NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Two baby reptiles just made their debut at the Nashville Zoo. Their birth marks the Zoo's first-ever successful hatching of the species.
Komodo dragons were born at the end of last month. The Zoo reports they weigh about the same as a stick of butter and are doing great.
The pair won't be that little for long, Komodo dragons are known for being the largest, and heaviest, lizard on earth reaching up to ten feet long and can weigh more than 300 pounds.
It's been ten years since the first Komodo Dragon arrived in Nashville. These two guys to the total of now seven at the Zoo.
It's a big deal to have a successful hatching of this species because they're endangered.
The Zoo partners with the Komodo Survival Program to help protect them and contribute to increasing the population. They also help overseas with conservation work, like purchasing a new boat to transport researchers and carriers to move traps between monitoring locations.
My friend and colleague Carrie Sharp had a lot of fun last week, on an adventure to a country more than three thousand miles away! She’s back now – sharing her Adventures in Iceland through stories, and incredible images of this remarkably beautiful and unique island nation (kudos to Chief Photographer Catherine Steward)! But did you know Nashville has something very important in common with Iceland? Tourism! Here, Carrie explains how a volcanic eruption decades ago helped save the country’s economy from collapse!
-Rhori Johnston
