Trunkline Magazine (Louisville Zoo) June 2018 | Page 6

Romulus
Komodo Dragon
Age: 7 months
Arrived: March 28, 2018
On exhibit: Late June
"Getting Bigger
Every Day"
Many of you have been looking
forward to being able to see our
new Komodo dragon Romulus that
arrived on March 28, 2018. Be-
cause Romulus is so young (hatched
October 19, 2017), he requires
some special preparation to en-
sure a comfortable and safe space
as he grows. At the time of this
article, Romulus is still in a stan-
dard quarantine while his outdoor
exhibit space is being built. The
space will rest within the original
outdoor Komodo exhibit. This will
allow Romulus to enjoy the warm
summer weather and the sunlight,
which is critical for Komodo health
and growth, while ensuring the size
is safe for him to explore. Romulus
is growing every day. When he ar-
rived, Romulus weighed just over a
half pound and was 23 inches long.
He’s gained a little weight since
then but he still has a long way to
go. Komodo dragons generally take
over a decade to grow to full size.
Komodo dragons are carnivores.
His current diet includes a balanced
meat diet and eggs. When they are
younger, Komodos may eat insects,
eggs and other things that they can
find near their home in the trees.
As they get older and have less
threat from larger predators,
they will come down from the
And there's more to come!
This fall, we'll have
more animal ambassadors
to look forward to visiting
including two new gray
seals and three new harbor
seals in Glacier Run, pan-
cake tortoises and even a
diamondback rattlesnake!
Look for updates in our next
issue of Trunkline or by fol-
lowing us on social media.
6 • Louisville Zoo Trunkline • Summer 2018
trees to live on the forest floor. They
will also swim between islands to
find food. Komodo dragons grow
to be the largest, heaviest lizards in
the world. They can eat anything
from smaller reptiles to pigs, to full
size water buffalo. HerpAquarium
Zoo keeper Chris Florence says
Romulus is “a very active lizard”
who is growing bolder every day
and “seems to recognize the people
who take care of him.” Starting in
late June, you can visit Romulus on
exhibit in the HerpAquarium.
Did you
know?
Almost all of the
births at AZA-
accredited Zoos are
planned. We do this to
insure that all animal offspring
from our Zoos have great quality
homes and the species is able
to maintain strong genetic
integrity. Many animals such
as tigers and polar bears are
solitary animals and typically live
most of their lives on their own
in managed environments as
they do in the vanishing wild.
This is why you may see only
one of these animals on exhibit.