Jakarta (TAN): Komodo Island in Indonesia, home to the largest species of lizard, will be closed to visitors for all of 2020.
Tourists who want to see the giant lizard in its natural habitat on the island will have to either go this year to the island of fame or wait till 2021.
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The local government announced plans to shut down Komodo Island recently, when it became clear that the komodo dragon population was dwindling because of the lack of deer on the island. Deer is their primary food.
Those who want to see the giant lizard in their natural habitat will still be able to do so by visiting other nearby islands next year.
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Last month, the governor of East Nusa Tenggara, where Komodo National Park is located, announced plans to shut down the entire park — which comprises of Komodo Island apart from another 171 islands — for one year to help revitalize the population of Komodo dragons as well as the wildlife they feed on. But after loud protests from the local tourism industry, the government has decided to shut down only Komodo Island.
“As of January 2020, we will close temporarily, but not as a whole, only specifically Komodo Island,” Marius Ardu Jelamu, East Nusa Tenggara tourism office head, told Kompas.
The lack of deer, largely due to poaching by the local people, was not only hurting the Komodo dragon population but also the size of the reptiles.
The other problem is that the Komodo dragon is cannibalistic in nature. So, unless there is an adequate deer populationavailable to feed on, the lizards might turn on one another, a further disconcerting threat to their numbers.
