Bloganuary writing prompt

What is your favorite animal?

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I absolutely love lizards, especially monitor lizards. But my favorite is the Komodo Dragon. They are found on Komodo Island and a few neighboring islands of the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia.

Although they reproduce through normal sexual reproduction, it has been seen that females that are isolated from males sometimes produce offspring through parthenogenesis (an asexual reproduction in which a female can produce an embryo without fertilizing an egg with sperm). Adult males engage in upright combat during mating season, frequently drawing blood and throwing each other to the ground. The loser runs away or remains motionless but is unaffected by the deadly venom.

Komodo’s are the largest living lizard, 10 feet and 200 pounds.

Their prey are deer, goats, pigs, dogs, and occasionally humans. They often cannot bring down their prey with an attack, but their saliva contains bacteria and venom that will kill off the animal within a few days. Then the Komodo uses its sense of smell to track the kill and feast.

They are just so damn beautiful in their violence.

Visit https://globalconservation.org/species-facing-extinction/komodo-dragon/ to learn more about the conservation efforts to protect these beautiful animal.

What is your favorite animal? Did I sway you, even a little bit?