Komodo Flora and Fauna

If you want to see the Dragons up close and first hand in the wild, why not join one of our awesome sea kayaking expeditions around the Komodo National Park.

Click here to learn about our 10 day Komodo Sea Kayaker expedition.

Click here to learn about our 6 day Komodo Sea Kayaking Insight trip.

Click here to learn about our 10 day SUP Komodo trip.

Click here to learn about our 12 day Schools Program in the Komodos.

Flora
There are 254 plant species originating from Asia and Australia in Komodo National Park. Due to the dry climate, the number of different terrestrial plant species is relatively low. The majority of these plants are suited to obtain and retain water, and many grasses and shrubs are fire-adapted. Shrubs are often indicators of disturbances as they tend to establish themselves in degraded areas.

The mixed terrestrial vegetation of Komodo National Park provides habitat and shade for many different animals in the park. Komodo Dragons, which are strictly carnivorous, do not eat any of the vegetation. However, the main prey of the Komodo dragon, such as deer and wild boar, feed on the various leaves, fruit, flowers, roots and grasses found within the Park.

Fauna 
(Land)
Apart from the Komodo Dragon (click here for more on the Dragons), the Komodo National Park is home to many other land species including:
- Timor Deer, Water Buffalo, Long Tailed Macaque Monkey, Wild Boar, Horses, Palm Civet and Bats.

Birds
Frigate Birds
Frigate birds are large, tropical birds that can usually be seen soaring over open water in search of schools of fish. They have a characteristic gliding pattern, a unique “M”-shaped silhouette and a long forked-tail. Frigate birds are also known as “pirates of the sky” because rather than diving into the water to catch fish themselves, they often steal food from other seabirds by pestering them to drop their food in mid-air.

Herons and Egrets
Herons and Egrets belong to the family Ardeidae. This family of wading birds with long legs and long necks can be found all over the world. They can be seen walking along the shoreline or on shallow reef flats in search of small fish and invertebrates, which they pick out of the water with their long slender bills. When flying, their necks curve into a distinctive “S” shape.

Birds of Prey
Hawks and Eagles belong to the family Accipridae, which vultures are also a member of. These very large birds of prey have hooked bills and powerful talons for killing and tearing prey. Eagles soar on air currents and hunt mainly from the air. Hawks usually hunt from branches but there are some that also soar in the air. These birds build large nests from piles of sticks in high trees or cliffs.

Falcons are fast-flying birds of prey that are able to swoop down on prey with impressive speed. They have powerful, hooked beaks with two small teeth-like hooks on their upper bill.

Megapodes
Megapode means “large feet”. The only species of this family in Komodo National Park is the Orange-footed scrubfowl, which is an Australian ground-dwelling bird that scratches together large dirt mounds with their large feet. These birds use these mounds to lay their eggs in. Their eggs incubate under the hot soil and decomposing vegetation in the mound. One mound may be built-up year after year by a pair of birds until it reaches over 1.5 meters in height. Sometimes several pairs of birds help build-up a mound. The female lays one large, pinkish-colored egg in the mound at a time. The egg hatches 70 days later and the newborn scrubfowl pushes its way to the surface of the mound. There is no parental care of the young birds so they must fend for themselves immediately. The mounds are often used by Komodo Dragons to lay their own eggs in during the dry season when the scrubfowl do not nest.

(Marine)
The following is just a selection of the 1000 plus marine animal species in the National Park.

Shark
Species of sharks found in the Komodo National Park include, Grey reef shark, Black-tip reef shark, Whale shark, Hammerhead shark, White-tip reef shark.  The reef sharks that divers see in Komodo National Park are mostly one to two meters long. The biggest shark in the world is the Whale shark, a harmless plankton feeder that can reach 14 meters in length and may occasionally be seen migrating through the Park.

Rays
Besides Manta rays, white-spotted eagle rays may also be seen in Komodo National Park. They can grow to about 3.5 meters wide and unlike manta rays, they have teeth, white spots on their back, and a very long tail. Blue-spotted lagoon rays are also found lying on shallow bottoms down to 20 meters depth, usually hiding under coral. They grow to about 90cm wide and have two stinging spines on the tail. Blue-spotted stingrays (Dasyatis kuhlii) look similar to the blue spotted-lagoon ray, but their pectoral fins are pointed instead of rounded. They are also found on deeper bottoms to about 50 meters depth.

Anemone Fish
Anemone fish are a type of damselfish that live only in anemones. The stinging tentacles of anemones protect anemone fish from predators. Anemone fish can produce a mucus that is exactly the same as anemones they live on. The anemone’s stinging cells do not fire into the anemone fish because the anemone fish are not recognized as “foreign”. They usually eat algae near the anemone or plankton in the water above it. They do not like to stray far from their protective anemone when searching for food.

Angelfish
Angelfishes are colourful reef fish that resemble butterflyfishes, but are generally larger. They also have large spine on the bottom of their gill cover. Angelfishes form “harems” with one male guarding two to five females in a territory ranging in size from a few square meters to over 1,000 square meters. Angelfish will chase other fishes away from within their territory if they compete for the same food supply. They generally eat sponges but also algae, zooplankton, fish eggs, and soft-bodied invertebrates such as ascidians. Most angelfishes can be found at shallow depths down to 15 meters. Others are found as deep as 75 meters. They like to take shelter under coral ledges, caves and crevices.

Needlefish
Needlefish are long, slender, silvery fishes with a thin, pointed jaw that resembles a large needle. They swim very close to the surface of the water, sometimes above the reef and are commonly seen by snorkelers. Needlefish eat small fish close to the surface of the water.

When alarmed, needlefish can skip over the water very quickly by using their tails for propulsion. They will also do this if a bright light is directed over the surface of the reef at night. Some of these fish have been known to fatally impale fishermen who were sitting in their boats.

Parrotfish
Parrotfish are brightly coloured, medium to large-sized reef fish that look similar to wrasses. However, they possess fused teeth that resemble the beak of a bird. They mainly scrape algae from rocks with their sharp teeth and some eat live coral. Parrotfish may actually scrape or bite off some hard coral skeleton in the process of eating and can break up the coral skeleton using special grinders in their throats. After digesting the coral skeletons, they expel the waste as coral sand. Because they are constantly grazing and expelling sand, they are important contributors of sand production on coral reefs.

Triggerfish
Triggerfish are an odd-shaped fish with a large head, leathery skin and a dorsal fin that can be raised and locked into place. Some triggerfish are very aggressive and territorial. They have powerful jaws and strong teeth that can break and crush hard-bodied prey such as crabs, clams, sea snails, sea urchins and corals. They also eat shrimps, sponges, hydroids, ascidians, worms, plankton and other fish.

Barracudas
Barracudas are very long, slim fish with pointed snouts and sharp teeth. They often form schools although the largest barracudas are loners. Sometimes a large school of barracuda will circle in a spectacular “funnel’ formation on reef drop-offs. Great barracudas, yellowtail barracuda, blackfin and chevron barracuda are commonly seen by divers on the reefs.

Sea Turtles
There are eight species of sea turtles, five of which live in Indonesia including the green turtle, hawksbill turtle, olive ridley turtle, loggerhead turtle and leatherback turtle. Green turtles and hawksbill turtles can often be seen on the reefs in Komodo National Park.

Sea turtles have a hard bony shell, eyelids, and a jaw that is modified into a beak with no teeth. They also have tear ducts near their eyes that excrete excess sea water salt that is ingested with food. They differ from land turtles in that they have flippers with claws instead of legs, and cannot pull their heads and flippers into their shell to hide.