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.
For people of my generation, in our younger days we spent part of our weekends watching music shows like American Bandstand and Soul Train. That was before the age of music videos. Several years before Soul Train was syndicated out of Chicago, another syndicated R&B show was taped in Nashville at NewsChannel 5. Night Train aired in the 60s and included what may have been the first TV appearance for legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Forrest Sanders has another great look back at station history.
-Lelan Statom
