Fuengirola (Málaga), (EFE).- Juanito, Fénix, Embum, Drakaris and Saya: this is the name of the five Komodo dragon pups that have been born in the Bioparc park in Fuengirola, the only center that has managed to reproduce this verano in Spain in the last ten years.
Last summer, the Bioparc Herpetology team detected that the behavior of Ora, the park’s female Komodo dragon, was changing, as she was more restless than usual. The reason: a large clutch of twelve eggs.
Eight months later, and after a long and controlled incubation of these eggs, Bioparc has been able to announce the first successful reproduction of the species in the park, with the birth of these five hatchlings.
“The success of the laying, incubation and expected hatching not only represents a hopeful future for this endangered species, but also demonstrates how necessary the work we do at our center is,” explains Milagros Robledo, the park’s head of Herpetology. .
The main objective of the Fuengirola park has been to guarantee the well-being of Ora and the male Komodo dragon, called Reo, and now also that of their young. “For everyone, it is without a doubt a great achievement,” she says.
Bioparc highlights that the hatching of these small Komodo dragons places it in a benchmark at a European level, as it is the only center that has managed to reproduce this monitor lizard in Spain and the fifth in Europe in the last decade.
Eight months of controlled incubation
During these almost eight months of incubation, the team has carried out an almost daily control of the eggs. Both the temperature and the humidity of the facilities that incubated them have been regulated, guaranteeing an adequate environment for the development of the embryos and simulating the possible seasonal variations to which they could be exposed in their habitat.
At the beginning of March, this controlled process ended with the hatching of the first of the young, called Juanito. She was followed by Phoenix, Embum, Drakaris and Saya.
“After the eggs were broken, we carefully monitored each one of them so that everything went well. The biggest ones hatched on their own, the smallest ones have needed help to get out because they were still attached to the yolk,” explains Robledo, who points out that the hatchlings have weights ranging from 50 to 120 grams and measure between 30 and 44 centimeters.
As in the natural habitat of this species, from the moment the young are born they live separately from their parents and completely independently.
This behavior is respected, keeping the little ones in separate terrariums. During these first weeks of life, the team of caregivers must closely monitor the diet of each one of them and their state of health.
An endangered species
Bioparc Fuengirola is one of the 30 zoos that are part of the European Endangered Species Program (EEP) for this species, coordinated by the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
Within these conservation programs, collaboration between all participating centers is essential, sharing experiences and impressions on processes such as this long incubation. The activity carried out by each of them also follows the guidelines indicated by the coordinator of each EEP.
Although the initial clutch was twelve eggs, in the end only five of them were viable, a figure that coincides with the recommendation of the EEP coordinator, says Bioparc.
This decision guarantees the genetic variability of the Komodo dragons and strengthens these reptiles in the event that, in the future, it is necessary to reintroduce them into their habitat, details Jesús Recuero, technical director, veterinarian and curator of Bioparc Fuengirola.
The Komodo dragon, like the one in Fuengirola, is a species in serious danger of extinction, as there are only about 1,500 specimens left worldwide, 220 of them in conservation centers belonging to the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA). In the wild, they can be found on the island of Flores, Komodo, Rinca, Padar, Nusa Kode and Gili Motang.
In the last 15 years the dragon population has been reduced by 25% due to the burning of a large part of the forest where they live and due to poaching. Added to this is the enormous accumulation of waste carried by ocean currents that ends up on the islands where these primitive and great monitor lizards live. EFE
