Papua’S Dragon

Does the Komodo Really Exist ?

From Our Own Correspondent.

Port Moresby, August 20.

T>EV. OWEN PARRY of the London Missionary Society, Lawes College, Fife Bay, who is an honorary collector of snakes in Papua for Taronga Zoo logical Gardens, Sydney, recently made reference to the presence of the Komodo dragon in Papua. It is understood that he has already made arrangements for a specimen to be brought down to the coast to the government station in the Gulf.

The Komodo dragon, a gigantic monitor lizard; which derives its name from one of several small islands lying between the larger islands of Sumbawa and Flores in the Dutch East Indies, goes by the zoological name of Varanus Kovnodoensis.

Its ancestors are believed to be the originals of the traditional dragon of Chinese art. Early this year a party led by Lord Moyne visited the island of Komodo to secure specimens for the Lon don Zoo. He obtained three, but not of unusual size, though he and his party saw several measuring up to 12 feet in length.

Whether the Komodo dragon seen in Papua belongs to the same species of lizard as that found in Dutch East Indies has not definitely been proved. Few people have seen them, though for many years past reports have been circulated both by white people and natives of their appearance in different parts of the Ter

ritory—on the banks of the Laloki, Kikori, and Oriomo rivers, and on the Mekeo flats. The reptiles are feared greatly by the Koiari around Hombron Bluff and are familiar to the Nara, Kiwi, and Mekeo people who know them by different names (Lorio, Eleraru, and Siai).

It is interesting to note that the de scriptions of these creatures from each widely separated district tally- They appear to measure from 10 to 12 feet in length, their necks are thick and their heads resemble those of the Iguana, the tails are long and thick and taper to a point. They stand on squat bow-legs with wide spread feet and claws about 2 feet from the ground.

The dragons are said to live in trees, from which they attack their quarry (pigs and wallabies), and after killing their victims carry them up into the branches where they devour them. Heaps of bones have been found at the foot of trees both on the banks of the Oriomo river and near Hombron Bluff, where they have been encountered.

On one occasion in 1933, it was stated that one of these reptiles attacked a white man with a number of natives near the Oriomo river, charging them with wide open jaws, and that it took three shots to kill it. The body was carried across to Daru by the natives, where unfortunately before the white man was aware, it was partly eaten and destroyed and no remains could be found.

The arrival of the specimen at Taronga Park, and the scientific report that will follow should establish the fact whether the Komodo dragon exists in Papua or not, for in spite of the frequent reports of its appearance in the territory, it has been generally regarded as one of the myths of Papua.