They are native to the eastern Indonesian islands of Komodo, Flores, Rinca, Padar, Gili Motang and Nusa Kode and like to eat large and small mammals including deer and buffalo, birds, eggs, and carrion. While they're smaller now, Komodo dragons are the world’s largest living lizard species, usually weighing more than 150 pounds and measuring up to 10 feet in length.

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There are also fewer than 2,500 Komodo dragons remaining in the wild, with possibly as few as 350 breeding females, the Wildlife Conservation Society says. Why is this a miracle? Mating between these reptiles can sometimes become aggressive so it has taken years of work by the zoo's herpetology department to make it successfully happen. The dragon then tracks by smell to feed on the dead flesh - eating up to 80% of its body weight in just one feeding.In November, six Komodo dragons hatched at the Bronx Zoo for the first time in its 122-year history. If the dragon’s prey escapes after being bitten, deadly infections from the bacteria living in the dragon's razor sharp teeth kill the victim within a week. They have sharp serrated teeth and powerful limbs able to propel them in quick bursts of up to 11 miles per hour. Komodo dragons have bowed legs, a large muscular tail, rounded snout and forked yellow tongue. Juveniles are more colourful starting off life as with red and yellow bands. Komodo dragons have grey brownish scales that provide camouflage in their surroundings.

The world’s largest, and heaviest, lizards.

Baby comodo dragon