National Park denied Komodo dragons’ stress

JAKARTA: The Komodo National Park has denied reports that a horde of 24,000 foreign tourists visited the island en masse, resulting in stressing the island’s Komodo dragons.

“No Komodo has ever died from stress,” an administration executive at the national park, Heru Rudiharto, said on Friday as quoted by kompas.com.

The park management limits the number of tourists visiting the island to 40-50 at one time, said Heru, who works in Labuan Bajo on Flores Island — an entry point to Komodo Island.

East Nusa Tenggara Tourism, Arts and Culture Agency promotion division head Ubaldus Gogi previously said that a throng of tourists visited Komodo in March 2010. “The Komodo dragons are stressed. One even died,” he said last week.

“The pier [at the park] has a limited capacity. No cruise ship can [come ashore] so we have to fetch tourists by speedboat. So there is no way that 10,000 tourists could all come at once,” Heru said.

“We’re not conducting mass tourism. Komodo National Park is for eco-tourism. We put high priority on the island’s habitat and ecosystem and not its tourism aspect.” — JP