Boy killed by komodo dragon

[gwrober]

Komodo dragon kills boy in Indonesia
First recorded deadly attack on human by giant lizards in 33 years
The Associated Press
Updated: 8:04 a.m. CT June 4, 2007

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A Komodo dragon attacked and killed an 8-year-old boy in eastern Indonesia, the first recorded deadly attack on a human by one of the giant lizards in 33 years, a national park spokesman said Monday.

The boy was mauled when he went to go to the bathroom behind a bush Saturday on Komodo island, Heru Rudiharto said.

?The Komodo bit him on his waist and tossed him viciously from side to side,? Rudiharto said.

?A fishermen, who just happened to be the boy?s uncle, threw rocks at the lizard until it let the boy go and fled,? he said. ?The boy died from massive bleeding half an hour later.?

Komodos, the world?s largest lizards, are only found in the wild in a small archipelago in eastern Indonesia. Fewer than 4,000 survive.

Rudiharto said the lizards had been living side-by-side with the 1,200 people on Komodo with no fatal incident for 33 years.

?Perhaps the lizards? natural prey has decreased because we are entering the dry season and there has been too much deer hunting,? he said.

Komodos can grow to a length of 10 feet and weigh up to 365 pounds.

Thousands of tourists visit Komodo each year to see the lizards in their natural habitat. They are normally shown around the arid and rocky island by guides who carry large, forked sticks to ward of the lizards.

 

[alyssa]

Aw, poor kid and his family. :[ Sounds like one hungry lizard...Wonder what they did to it afterwards?

 

[Inspector Jihad]

nothing good can come from living next to 10 foot 360 lb reptiles.

 

[Dogo]

... OMG, It's Godzilla!!!

 

[UF Matt]

That's awful. Try explaining that one to relatives. Wow.

 

[McGyver]

that's one HUNGRY GEIKO!!

 

[crt1530]

The guy threw rocks? I'd be trying to gouge its eyes out with my fingers.

 

[SirStev0]

wow... I just saw one for the first time two weeks ago at the Pittsburgh zoo.

 

[RaistlinZ]

I feel sorry for the kid. That must have been incredibly painful.

 

[gwrober]

Originally posted by: RaistlinZ
I feel sorry for the kid. That must have been incredibly painful.

That's what I was thinking. What a way to go. Poor kid.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
nothing good can come from living next to 10 foot 360 lb reptiles.

For most members of the animal kingdom nothing good can come from living next to 1200 people.

 

[spaceman]

1st attack in 33 yrs?
I culd have sworn I saw Steve Irwin get chased up a tree by one..
it was the 1st time i saw real fear in his eyes...
the hippo incident...that seemed scary for him to0.

 

[StormRider]

Originally posted by: RaistlinZ
I feel sorry for the kid. That must have been incredibly painful.

Yeah, it probably was extremely painful. I've been thinking of getting pet rats and occasionally and unfortunately I see a video posted on uTube where someone feeds a rat to a monitor lizard and I think it's probably one of the crueler and more painful ways for a rat to get eaten.

 

[HannibalX]

They look warm and cuddly to me.

Click.

 

[Accipiter22]

humans are actually a preferred food of the kimodo....scary huh? Also their bite is toxic because they have a myriad of bacteria living in their mouths unparalleled in nature.

 

[NissanGurl]

Originally posted by: Accipiter22
humans are actually a preferred food of the kimodo....scary huh? Also their bite is toxic because they have a myriad of bacteria living in their mouths unparalleled in nature.

Which is why even if the man had gotten the kid away from the dragon quickly enough for the bleeding not to be major, the kid probably would have died from the infection anyway. Unless they had access to some very powerful antibiotics, but even then it may not have been enough.

I think the article mentioned it but the bacteria is how the komodo actually kills most of it's prey. Bite the prey once, wait for the infection to kill the animal, and takes time later to eat the animal.

 

[ForumMaster]

Originally posted by: Accipiter22
humans are actually a preferred food of the kimodo....scary huh? Also their bite is toxic because they have a myriad of bacteria living in their mouths unparalleled in nature.

really? you know that a human bite is far more dangerous then getting bit by a dog cause our mouths are full of bacteria. but a komodo dragon has several quite lethal types of bacteria in their mouths. they attack by biting the prey, then following the prey and eating it after it has died from the infection, not the actual bite.

 

[Aikouka]

I bet the boy accidentally peed on it . I'd be pretty pissed if someone peed on me too!

Also, if the bacteria is such a problem... just bring some Listerine... kills 99.9% of germs .

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: ForumMaster

Originally posted by: Accipiter22
humans are actually a preferred food of the kimodo....scary huh? Also their bite is toxic because they have a myriad of bacteria living in their mouths unparalleled in nature.

really? you know that a human bite is far more dangerous then getting bit by a dog cause our mouths are full of bacteria. but a komodo dragon has several quite lethal types of bacteria in their mouths. they attack by biting the prey, then following the prey and eating it after it has died from the infection, not the actual bite.

they won't actually follow the prey, because it can take a week for the prey to die from sepsis.
they just use their sensitive sense of scent to find the dead animal (they typically feed off of dead animals, and can find one miles away from the scent alone).

and yep, if the kid was attacked and lived, he would have died. Those islands likely don't have great healthcare, and it is necessary to have good healthcare to have any kind of chance of surviving sepsis. It could very easily turn into septic shock, which across the world the mortality rate is at least 50%!

 

[Miramonti]

Very unfortunate. And all the dragon wanted was a new pair of human skin boots.

 

[sygyzy]

Originally posted by: alyssa
Aw, poor kid and his family. :[ Sounds like one hungry lizard...Wonder what they did to it afterwards?

What is killed it, Alex?

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
nothing good can come from living next to 10 foot 360 lb reptiles.

welcome to the jungle

 

[Pepsei]

i'm looking for the clip of morning musume vs. the komodo dragon.

 

[0roo0roo]

yea you can't amputate where he was bitten, their bite is basically equivalent to poisoning

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: crt1530
The guy threw rocks? I'd be trying to gouge its eyes out with my fingers.

you can take Chuck Norris too, online; that is.