Status
Endangered
Habitat
Dry savanna and monsoon forest, five islands
Range
Asia · Australia
Group
Reptiles
Venomous — a fact only established in 2009.
The long-standing story was septic bacteria in the mouth. It was wrong. Komodos have genuine venom glands producing anticoagulants and hypotensives; prey dies of shock and blood loss, not infection.
Their entire world range is about a thousand square kilometres. Sea-level rise is projected to remove a substantial share of the low-lying habitat that remains, which is why the species was uplisted to Endangered in 2021.
