CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Animal keeper Linda Meier petted one of the six Komodo dragons at the Honolulu Zoo yesterday as her husband, Duane, cleaned off the glass to the newly renovated exhibit.

Enter the dragons

A new exhibit gives zoo visitors
a view of some awesome reptiles

Five-year-old Tawnie Akasaki peered through a large plate glass window yesterday to get a good view of the Komodo dragons at the Honolulu Zoo.

"Look at the tongue," said Tawnie to her grandmother Winona Arakawa of Salt Lake as she observed a dragon's forked tongue flick in and out of its mouth.

An exhibit featuring six young adult Komodo dragons is now open near the nene sanctuary. The dragons -- three males and three females -- that hatched at the zoo within a three-week period four years ago were out of the public eye for the last two years after they outgrew their enclosure at the reptile department.

The largest young-adult Komodo dragon, named Terik, is about 6 feet long. Experts expect Terik and the other male dragons, named Kedua and Krakatoa, to grow up to 8 feet or more.

The female dragons, named Ketiga, Mo'o Nui (big lizard) and Menari, are smaller at an estimated 3 1/2 to 4 feet.

Their father, Doc, is housed behind the exhibit, while their mother, TW, is housed behind the reptile department. Each was displayed at the exhibit one at a time when they arrived at the zoo in 1993. Doc and TW are from the first group hatched by the breeding program at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

Zoo reptile curator Duane Meier said the young female dragons should be able to lay eggs within the next two years.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM One of the Komodo dragons at the zoo flicked its tongue, used as a receptor of scent.

Many people have inquired about the Komodo dragons since they were removed from the reptile department, said Meier.

Within the last two months, modifications to the exhibit's landscaping were done by zoo staff to accommodate the six lizards as well as staff members. Tall grass was cleared, and a larger hut on the right side of the exhibit was built with rocks and thick branches.

"With six dragons, you want to know where they are," said Meier on the removal of the tall grass.

He noted that the carnivorous lizards move very quickly in spurts. On one occasion, Doc whipped around the exhibit enclosure three times within five seconds during breeding season, said Meier's wife, Linda, an animal zoo keeper who has cared for the young dragons since they hatched.

Members of Alpha Delta Kappa, a sorority of educators, also painted a mural for the exhibit. A heater will be installed to provide warmth for the dragons during the winter season.

"They love the sun," said Meier. "They like to get their body temperature in the 90s."

The dragons, which can grow up to 10 feet long and weigh 200 pounds, climb trees and are good swimmers. The dragons prey on pigs and deer in the wild.

At the zoo, the dragons are fed previously frozen mice, rats, day-old leghorn chickens, fish and specially blended ground turkey mix.

The wild population is estimated at 3,000 to 5,000 dragons in Indonesia.

Linda Meier described the young dragons as friendly.

Still, "some have pushy personalities," said Meier. "Working with a Komodo dragon, you've got to be cautious."