The Komodo dragon lives on only a few islands in Indonesia. As of 2021, an estimated 3,500 Komodo dragons lived on six islands, and from 1981 to 2021 their numbers dropped from 5,000 to 3,500, a decline that led the IUCN to move the species from vulnerable to endangered. As of 2021, the population was divided into eight subpopulations, and almost 70 percent of them were on Komodo and Rinca.
Genetic evidence shows how the islands have shaped these animals. Researchers sequenced the whole genomes of 24 Komodo dragons from the five main islands in the species' range, and they found that the dragons of Komodo island and of the north coast of Flores should be treated as two separate conservation units. The genetic differences among island groups are thought to come from sea level changes that joined and separated the islands over time. Genetic evidence also suggests that Komodo dragons probably had a steep drop in numbers over the last million years, and their genetic diversity is similar to that of endangered or extinct reptiles.
The genome also records how the body of this lizard works. Monitor lizards have high aerobic capacity and heart and blood vessel features like those of mammals, and the Komodo dragon genome shows signs of natural selection in genes for energy use, the heart and blood vessels, and blood clotting. Genes of Komodo dragons suggest that natural selection changed blood clotting genes to help them resist the effect of their own saliva, and the genome shows a larger set of chemoreceptor genes tied to sensing pheromones and kairomones.
Models try to look ahead. Scientists tested a Komodo dragon climate model against occupancy data collected with camera traps, and the climate study ran over one million simulations to account for uncertainty. A 2020 model projected that Komodo dragon habitat would shrink 8 to 87 percent by 2050 under different climate scenarios, and it projected declines of 27 to 99 percent in numbers across the range. The model also found that extinction risk on Rinca and Komodo, the two largest protected islands, was lower than on other islands, while, as of November 2026, rising sea levels could take away 30 to 70 percent of the range by 2040.
Indonesia set up Komodo National Park in 1980, and the park covers about 700 square miles, is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and has patrols that guard the dragons. As of 2021, only about 10 percent of the Komodo dragons on Flores lived inside a protected area, and as of November 2026 the species remains listed as endangered.
Words to know
- conservation: protecting nature
- simulations: computer trials
- chemoreceptor: chemical sensor
- kairomones: cross-species scents
