From Richard Reynolds #1

!cid_X_MA1_1294610897@aol, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Richard Reynolds says - - This is a Komodo Dragon (or monitor), an animal never seen on a circus. It is a voracious carnivore, not to be trifled with. It is the world's largest lizard, up to 10 ft. and 370 pounds From time to time it has been known to kill and eat humans. The Komodo lives on the island of that name plus a couple of others lying along the Java Sea east of that Indonesian island. It has a terrible bite, most of the injury owing to the fact that, as a carrion eater (the more rotten the meat the better !), the saliva of wild ones is laced with dangerous bacteria which can do terrible damage. Those now in captivity do not have the deadly bacteria because they are fed clean food and are treated with antibiotics. Additionally, new studies indicate that it is also venomous, though the scientific jury still seems to be out of that issue. Until comparatively recently, these dragons were quite rare in zoos. In fact its existence was not scientifically confirmed until 1910. The first living examples ever seen in the West were two specimens received at the Bronx zoo in September 1926 with another arriving in October of that year in Amsterdam. Until comparatively recent years, they have proved difficult to maintain, likely because the first ones were fully adult and could not adjust to captive conditions. They now regularly reproduce and hatchlings have been sent to many zoos. Astonishingly, the komodo dragon is capable of reproduction via parthenogenesis. That means that the female can hatch viable offspring from embryos never fertilized by a male, i.e., no mating. This phenomenon usually occurs in small, less complex animals - -rarely in such a large vertebrate animal. Viable young Komodo dragons via parthenogenesis have been hatched at both London and Chester zoos, UK. Now, having said that no circus has ever had one, I must relate what GREATER SHOW WORLD for June 15, 1931 said in a review of the Johnny J. Jones Carnival at Pittsburgh, PA. - - "Shows include: Komodo dragon, management of Captain Ardcher (sic). This presentation is the only Mallaysia (sic) Komodo Dragon on the North American Continent at the present time. The dragon in reality is a ' Varanus Komodoensis.' " It is true that there was no Komodo dragon in USA at the time and the scientific name is correct, but I doubt that the animal was the genuine article. For beginners, had this been the real thing, it could not have been obtained except by a special and expensive expedition. Moreover, it would have created enormous interest in the scientific and zoo communities. There had never previously been any here save the two for the Bronx in 1926 and neither of them survived more than a month. What the Captain likely had was a water monitor. It is related to the Komodo and does occur in Malaya, as the report said. However, it is quite common and though it can grow to large size, most are about 5 ft in length and weigh nowhere nearly as much as a Komodo.