Woman, 83, fights off Komodo dragon

An 83-year-old woman has fought off a Komodo dragon. Source: PerthNow

AN 83-YEAR-OLD Indonesian woman told how she faced a "fight for survival" when a Komodo dragon pounced and sunk its teeth into her.

Haisah was sitting on the ground outside her house on Rinca island, one of several Komodo-inhabited islands frequently visited by tourists, making a broom from a coconut tree, when the two-metre reptile sprang at her.

"All of a sudden, a Komodo bit my right hand," she said from her bed in hospital where she has been receiving treatment since the attack. "I have no idea which direction it came from."

"A knife fell from my right hand as the Komodo sunk its teeth into my wrist. There was nobody else around and I knew that I faced a fight for survival."

But the elderly lady managed to repel the attack: "I kicked the Komodo on one its front legs with all my strength, it was only one kick but it made the Komodo let go of my hand, then I screamed for help."

Haisah, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, spoke through her son who translated the locally spoken language into Indonesian.

Her wrist was seriously wounded during Tuesday's attack in her small village and she needed a total of 35 stitches at the hospital in the nearby town of Labuan Bajo, said her son.

"I'm doing fine now. I hope my hand will return to normal so that I can make brooms again," she said, adding limited movement had returned to her hand after it was initially paralysed.

In February, one of the reptiles bit a tour guide's leg when he passed its lair while trekking on Rinca island.

Earlier the same month, one attacked two employees of the Komodo National Park, inflicting serious injuries which needed hospital treatment.

Until recently, Komodos were believed to hunt with a "bite and wait" strategy - using toxic bacteria in their saliva to weaken or kill their prey before descending in numbers to feast.

But recent research found that the dragons' jaws have highly sophisticated poison glands that can cause paralysis, spasms and shock through haemorrhaging.

They are native to several Indonesian islands, where their habitat is protected, and are considered a vulnerable species, with only a few thousand left in the world.

The world's largest monitor lizards, they can grow up to three metres and weigh up to 70 kilograms.

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Woman, 83, fights off Komodo dragon

An 83-year-old woman has fought off a Komodo dragon. Source: PerthNow

AN 83-YEAR-OLD Indonesian woman told how she faced a "fight for survival" when a Komodo dragon pounced and sunk its teeth into her.

Haisah was sitting on the ground outside her house on Rinca island, one of several Komodo-inhabited islands frequently visited by tourists, making a broom from a coconut tree, when the two-metre reptile sprang at her.

"All of a sudden, a Komodo bit my right hand," she said from her bed in hospital where she has been receiving treatment since the attack. "I have no idea which direction it came from."

"A knife fell from my right hand as the Komodo sunk its teeth into my wrist. There was nobody else around and I knew that I faced a fight for survival."

But the elderly lady managed to repel the attack: "I kicked the Komodo on one its front legs with all my strength, it was only one kick but it made the Komodo let go of my hand, then I screamed for help."

Haisah, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, spoke through her son who translated the locally spoken language into Indonesian.

Her wrist was seriously wounded during Tuesday's attack in her small village and she needed a total of 35 stitches at the hospital in the nearby town of Labuan Bajo, said her son.

"I'm doing fine now. I hope my hand will return to normal so that I can make brooms again," she said, adding limited movement had returned to her hand after it was initially paralysed.

In February, one of the reptiles bit a tour guide's leg when he passed its lair while trekking on Rinca island.

Earlier the same month, one attacked two employees of the Komodo National Park, inflicting serious injuries which needed hospital treatment.

Until recently, Komodos were believed to hunt with a "bite and wait" strategy - using toxic bacteria in their saliva to weaken or kill their prey before descending in numbers to feast.

But recent research found that the dragons' jaws have highly sophisticated poison glands that can cause paralysis, spasms and shock through haemorrhaging.

They are native to several Indonesian islands, where their habitat is protected, and are considered a vulnerable species, with only a few thousand left in the world.

The world's largest monitor lizards, they can grow up to three metres and weigh up to 70 kilograms.

View the original article here

Komodo dragon attacks tour guide

An Indonesian tour guide was rushed to hospital for stitches after he was attacked by a Komodo dragon. Source: AFP

A KOMODO dragon mauled a tour guide in an Indonesian national park, just two weeks after a previous attack there by one of the giant lizards.

The reptile, over two metres long, appeared when the guide passed its lair while he was trekking with four Indonesian visitors to Rinca island - one of two Komodo-inhabited islands frequently visited by tourists.

"He tried to protect himself with a stick but the Komodo was stronger and faster than him, and he was bitten on his right calf," the administrative official of the Komodo National Park, Heru Rudiharto, told AFP by telephone.

The 25-year-old guide named Abdurahman was taken to hospital on the nearby island of Flores where his wounds were being stitched, said Stefanus Jalak, a colleague who accompanied him.

Until recently, Komodos were believed to hunt with a "bite and wait" strategy - using toxic bacteria in their saliva to weaken or kill their prey before descending in numbers to feast.

But recent research found that the dragons' jaws have highly sophisticated poison glands that can cause paralysis, spasms and shock through haemorrhaging.

They are native to several Indonesian islands and are considered a vulnerable species, with only a few thousand left in the world. Their normal diet consists of large mammals, reptiles and birds.

Komodos, the world's largest monitor lizards, can grow up to three metres and typically weigh to 70 kilograms.

Earlier this month one attacked two park employees, leaving them hospitalised with serious injuries.

In that attack, a 50-year-old park ranger was sitting at his desk at the Rinca island front office, where tourists usually check in, when the two-metre-long lizard sneaked into his room.

Another employee, aged 35, heard the ranger scream and quickly ran to his aid but the lizard also attacked him too, biting his leg.

View the original article here