Komodo National Park | Komodo Watch

Komodo Watch

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March 2001 Letter from Komodo

The rainy season has just ended and the island is covered in green swathes that ripple in the wind. The butterflies and insects have hatched, there is an abundance of grass and the deer population has exploded. Plenty of prey for both adult and juvenile Komodos!! Hopefully the areas that were devastated by the raging brushfires of last October have regenerated.

It is hatchling season and researchers, led by Dr Claudio Ciofi, are preparing to capture the newly born Komodo dragons for sexing and DNA sampling for the purpose of determining sex ratios in the wild born, and whether eggs were fertilized by more than one male’s sperm. Dr Ciofi has found financing to continue research in Komodo, and to establish a state-of-the-art laboratory facility in Udayana University in Bali. There are also plans afoot for a permanent research station in Flores to extend research efforts to the wild Komodo dragon populations in west Flores.

There have been a number of documentary film crews working in Komodo these past few months. A Discovery Channel program filmed in November is being aired this month, and a German production company has finished filming and will be airing their program sometime later in the year. I’m sure there may be others that I am unaware of…..

There was a Workshop for the Dive industry in Komodo in Bali from Feb 28th – Mar 2nd organized by The Nature Conservancy. Issues relating to marine conservation were discussed and a number of initiatives agreed upon. A Komodo Marine Tourism Association will be formed, and entrusted with drafting and enforcing a Code of Conduct for all dive operators in Komodo National Park. Meanwhile, in the future, park authorities are preparing to implement a marine usage fee for Komodo Marine Reserve with a price of US$20 as the figure mooted.

Meanwhile, the “floating ranger station” has proved very effective. The Kerapu is 20 meter long wooden boat that accommodates 10 – a combination of park rangers, water police and armed naval marines. The vessel is on patrol 24 hours a day to protect the 140,000 hectares of marine reserve found in Komodo National Park. Since the inception of patrols in October, 2000 there have been a number of blast fishermen apprehended as well as two groups of deer poachers. The marine marauders are in various stages of the legal process – either undergoing trial or in jail serving sentences, and their boats have been impounded in Labuanbajo. The message that Komodo is a marine reserve with teeth is being broadcast loud and clear to the local community.

The four room accommodation at the ranger station in Loh Buaya, Rinca was destroyed by an electrical fire at the end of February. The Komodo Foundation is assessing the cost of replacing this structure. Once plans have been drafted and approved, we will be solicting funds to re-build this facility.

The Komodo Foundation is organizing a Clean-up Komodo Day to coincide with Earth Day which is scheduled for April 22, 2001. All interested parties are invited to join in….

Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: 62.358.41004, 41005
Fax: 62.385.41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
The official website of The Komodo National Park: www.komodonationalpark.org

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