• After receiving numerous requests, on June 10 and 11, exclusively, some of the little ones will be in a temporary outdoor terrarium where visitors will be able to get to know them up close.
• From their birth and during their first months of life, Juanito, Fénix, Embum, Drakarys and Saya remain in indoor enclosures under the supervision of the Herpetology and Veterinary team, thus ensuring their correct development and guaranteeing their well-being until they are ready to live in outside, permanently

May/2023-. Last March we announced one of the most important milestones in the conservation work that BIOPARC Fuengirola develops within the European Endangered Species Program (EEP) of the Komodo dragon: the birth of five offspring of this great monitor. The first successful reproduction of the species in the park.

During the first months of life and until the Herpetology and Veterinary team can completely guarantee the well-being of these small monitors, they will remain in indoor enclosures. Three months later and after numerous requests, the park will set up a temporary outdoor terrarium where visitors will be able to get up close and personal.

On June 10 and 11, exclusively, they can be seen in the Indo-Pacific area, next to the installation of Reo, the male Komodo dragon.

In addition, throughout the day, there will be a meeting with the Herpetology and Education teams, in which they will reveal a multitude of curiosities about the reproduction of the largest monitor monitors in the world, their behavior, habits and all the work carried out to achieve these births.

Hours: 11:00 a.m. to 13:30 p.m.

Meeting-talk with Herpetology and Education teams: 11:20 a.m.

A few first months of controlled feeding to guarantee the growth of the five monitors

The first months of life are essential for the development of any animal. In the case of reptiles, during these weeks it is necessary to ensure their nutrition and adapt the diet to their development. “During this time, you have to observe that everything is going well and that they begin to eat everything. As children their diet is based on insects, worms, eggs of small birds, lizards, geckos or baby rodents. We have to start giving them a little of everything until they start to eat well,” explains Milagros, head of Herpetology at BIOPARC Fuengirola.

Juanito, Fénix, Drakarys, Embum and Saya They spend most of the time between branches and under the supervision of the entire team, who ensure their well-being and supervise that everything is going correctly: food, activity, etc.

BIOPARC Fuengirola is one of the 30 zoological parks that are part of the European Endangered Species Program (EEP), coordinated by the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA), and this event is of great importance and interest as it is a species of which there are barely 1300 specimens in the wild.

The Komodo dragon: a species in serious danger of extinction with only 1.500 specimens worldwide

The komodo dragons They are in danger of extinction. Currently, there are only about 1.500 copies worldwide, 220 in conservation centers belonging to the EAZA. In the wild, they can be found on the island of Flores, Komodo, Rinca, Padar, Nusa Kode and Gili Motang.

Since 2009, BIOPARC Fuengirola and the BIOPARC Foundation have been working on the European Endangered Species Program (EEP) of the Komodo dragon both 'ex situ' in its facilities and 'in-situ' on the island of Flores under the Komodo Survival Program project. Through this, the participating centers work by monitoring the specimens that live on the island, contributing to the protection of their habitat and raising awareness of the local community.

In the last 15 years the dragon population has been reduced by 25% due to the burning of a large part of the forest where they live and due to poaching. Currently, to all this is added the huge accumulation of waste that are transported by ocean currents and that end up on the islands where these primitive and large monitors live.