Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis) Fact Sheet: Population & Conservation Status

Population estimates

• Approximately 5,700 individuals (all islands combined) (Claudino-Sales 2019)
• Komodo National Park (Purwandana et al. 2014; data from 2011-2012)
  • Total national park abundance: about 2,450 individuals
  • Komodo Island: about 1160 individuals
  • Rinca Island: about 1185 individuals
  • Motang island: about 45 individuals
  • Kode Island: about 55 individuals
• Flores
  • No recent estimates (though population monitoring conducted by Ariefiandy et al. 2015)
  • 100 on W. Flores (Wae Waul Reserve) (IUCN 1998)
  • 2000 scattered in non-protected areas (IUCN 1998)

• IUCN Status
  • Vulnerable (1996 assessment) (World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1996)
    • Not Endangered, but facing a high rate of extinction in the medium-term future
• CITES
  • Appendix I: komodo dragon is threatened with extinction and affected by international trade.
• Protected under Indonesian law (1931,1990) and 1991 Ministerial Decree

• Main threat is human interference - habitat destruction due to logging, increased population
• Wild dogs
• Forest fires started by poachers to drive prey
• Dynamite and cyanide poisoning used to collect fish for food has disturbed population
• Poaching of deer on Padar led to Komodo's disappearance from this island
• Because the wild population is geographically restricted it is sensitive to fluctuations in environmental conditions, disease epidemics, genetic drift, and inbreeding
• Small closed populations are predicted to have low levels of genetic variability and increased disease susceptibility.
• Deposition of volcanic ash can destroy vegetation and alter habitat.
• Flores populations have declined markedly in the past few years because of logging concessions
• No Komodos observed on Padar since 1970

• Komodo National Park established in 1980: First management unit - 1984.
  • 173,300 hectares on 3 major islands - Komodo, Rinca and Gilli Motang
  • Funded from central government office in Jakarta
  • Management team is called " Perlindungan Hutan Dan Pelestarian Alam" or PHPA and is based at Labuan Bajo on the west coast of Fores. Staff of 90 (54 rangers)
• Park Administration has initiated a conservation awareness program for young people in the region - some training of tour guides - participation in annual census.
• Future plans: Extend KNP boundaries to two further islands; restrict population growth of island villages (two on Rinca and one on Komodo)

CBSG (1995)
Hudson et al. (1994)