Not Your Average Dragon

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry has to vanquish a Hungarian Horntail dragon in order to win the Triwizard Match. As scary as that scene was, we all know that fire-breathing, giant-winged, man-devouring dragons exist only in movies and fairytales … Right?

Wrong! The heaviest, strongest and deadliest lizard in the world, the Komodo Dragon lives in Indonesia and has, in recent years, killed over 20 men. This dragon may not breathe fire or fly, but it will wait in the bushes, watching its prey, and  then, when the time is just right it will pounce, sinking its sharp claws and jagged teeth into its victims’ flesh, tearing it to shreds. Few escape its grip, and those that do will soon die: bacteria from rotten flesh festers in the dragons mouth, giving its bite toxicity that soon kills any victims that manage to get away.

Want to learn more? Then turn to Weird n’ Wild’s Nightmare of Nature card number 4 for all kinds of fun facts.

Here are five other fun facts you may not know about the komodo dragon:

• Komodos can see as far away as 985 feet
• People in Indonesia have to buy their loved ones extra-deep in the earth so that the dragons won’t smell them and dig them up
• When it’s hot out, Komodo dragons dig into the soil, making a burrow so they can stay cool in the afternoon heat
• Komodo’s stomachs will expand to hold massive amounts of flesh. Large prey, eaten at once, can takes weeks to go through the dragon’s system
• Komodos can smell rotting corposes from over six miles away