T

he head of the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) for Flores, Lembata and Alor, Yance Mangu, said in Bajawa on Friday that 14 young Komodo dragons had hatched on Thursday in the 17 Pulau Riung conservation area in Ngada regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), or precisely on Ontoloe islet, on which the rare animals live.

'€œIt'€™s the first time Komodo lizards have hatched on Riaung Island after being monitored jointly by the Komodo Survival Program Foundation and Kupang BKSDA. The foundation conducts studies on the population of Komodo dragons in the Waenul nature reserve in West Manggarai. Usually, the Komodo dragons hatch in the wild, but this is the first time they were monitored,'€ Yance told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Meanwhile, the head of the 17 Pulau Riung conservation area resort, Siprianus Janggur, said that theoretically Komodo dragons reproduce annually. This was the first time the process was monitored from the mating season, which lasted from June to August 2014, until the eggs hatched in early March this year.

Janggur said the NTT BKSDA had identified 11 Komodo dragons in the 17 Pulau Riung resort. Most of those that survive in the wild in the resort area had not been identified.