




***** ABOUT KOMODO ***** KOMODO is situated 200 nautical miles east of Bali between the islands of Flores and Sumbawa. Komodo's symbol of international fame is it's dragons, the world's largest living Lizard. Indonesia declared the area a National Park in 1980, and in 1992 Komodo was declared of land on 4 major and numerous minor islands. The Komodo Dragon Varanus komodoesis is the largest lizard in the world. Also know as a varanid or monitor lizard, it grows to 2.5 meters in length and round 125 kilos. At the top of the food chain the dragon is an alert and agile predator, worthy of respect. Their bacteria laden bite is lethal without medical treatment. Their tails are also a powerful and dangerous weapon which can be thrashed with bone breaking force. The regular flicking of their tongues drives their acute sense of smell. Komodo island has a great and unique position respect to the Sunda Banda archipelagoes, it is one of the biggest island on the East Nusa Tenggara region beside Flores and Timor. It represents an isolated sliver of probable continental crust to the south of active volcanic islands (Sumbawa, Flores ) within the forearc basin (Fig.1). It is situated to the north of passage from the Java Trench (subduction front) to the Timor Through (collision front). It does not show still the effects of strong compression in contrast to islands of the outer arc system (Savu, Roti, Timor), while the magmatic units make up a substantial part of the Late Cretaceous to Paleogene stratigraphy.