Explore St. Louis

NEW AT THE STL ZOO: KOMODO DRAGON

A modern-day “dragon” has moved into the Charles H. Hoessle Herpetarium at the St. Louis Zoo. A young male Komodo dragon named “Dua”(pronounced DOO-ah) is now on display daily in his habitat. He is almost three years old, is over four feet long and weighs about 40 pounds. Dua, which means “two” in Indonesian, was the second to hatch from a clutch at the Toronto Zoo.

Komodo dragons have not been on exhibit at the St. Louis Zoo since 2003.

The Komodo is one of the world’s largest lizards, averaging 8 to 10 feet in length and weighing more than 200 pounds. The Komodo is a member of a family of lizards called monitors. About 50 species of monitors are found in Africa, Asia and Australia. The Komodo dragon is confined to a few small Indonesian islands, including the namesake island of Komodo. They live in grasslands, savannas and monsoon forests at lower elevations. The species is considered threatened in the wild.

The Komodo is a very efficient predator. It can run as fast as a man for short spurts, is agile enough to climb trees and is also a good swimmer. Its saliva contains deadly bacteria, which allows the Komodo to bring down prey as large as pigs and deer.

The St. Louis Zoo participates in the Association of Zoos & Aquariums Species Survival Plan for the Komodo dragon.

The Zoo, located in historic Forest Park, is open daily in the summer from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission to the Zoo is free.

"Dua's" photo by Ray Meibaum.