Komodo National Park Indonesia

Author: Flores Komodo | Posted: 24-09-2007 

Park information:

• Located between the islands of Flores and Sumbawa Island.


• Covers an area of between 1,875 and 2,321 square kilometers.


• Consist of three main Islands: Komodo, Rinca and Padar


• Famous for its pre-historic and Komodo ‘’Dragons’’ – found only in this area of the world.


• Home to one of the richest marine environments in the world.


• Excellent coral reefs.


• Outstanding diving spots.

Facilities

• Rangers’ house, restaurant and information centers are located on both Komodo and Rinca Island


• Currently the best way to stay overnight at the park is to rent a local excursion boat and sleep on deck. Anchored just off shore from the park, this will allow an early morning trek in the reserve.

How to get there

• Labuan Bajo (West Flores) is the starting point to explore the Komodo National Park. Regular flights operate from Bali (Denpasar) to Labuan Bajo, or travel overland from Bali by private vehicle or public bus and inter-island ferries.


• The travel time from Labuan Bajo to Komodo Island is 4 hours by boat, and 2 hours from Labuan Bajo to Rinca Island.


• Overnight accommodation is possible either at the rangers’ house or on the deck of a local excursion boats


• Arrangement for accommodation at the Park can be with Travel Agents,� West Flores guides or directly with the local boat owners.


• Local excursion boat.

Komodo Island

• Loh Liang is the main landing point to see Komodo ‘’dragons’’ on Komodo Island.


• Komodos are often seen at the dry river bed Banu Nggulung, a half-hour walk from Loh Liang. When komodos were still fed before park visitors (a practice discontinued many years ago), Banu Nggulung was the traditional feeding ground. You are also likely to spot dragons looking for food around the Rangers’ camp in Loh Liang.


• Hiking around the Island is possible with a local guide. A round-trip climb up the slopes of Gunung Ara (580m) takes around 3.5 hours. Or, consider hiking to Poreng Valley, located 5.5km from Loh Liang. Along the way you may encounter komodos as well as buffaloes, wild boar, and a wide variety of bird species.


• Visit Komodo village, a friendly, Muslim Buginese village only a half-hour walk from Loh Liang.


• Snorkeling and relaxing at Pantai Merah (Red Beach) or Pulau Lasa is on the ‘’must do’’ list for Komodo Park visitors.

Rinca Island

• Loh Buaya is the access point to see Komodo ‘’dragons’’ on Rinca Island.


• You may see the dragon around the camp at Loh Buaya.
  


• Local guides generally know the spots where the komodos sun themselves.
  


• On a hiking tour you may also see long-tailed macaques, wild water buffaloes, Timor deer, wild horses, boars, and rare megapode birds.

Marine Ecosystem: 
The three main marine ecosystems found at the Komodo National Park:

• Sea grass beds


• Coral reefs


• Mangrove forests.

Marine Fauna:
Komodo National Park has one of the richest marine environments in the word. Forams, cnidaria, sponges, ascidians, marine worms, mollusks, echinoderms, crustaceans, cartilaginous, bony fishes, marine reptiles, marine mammals (dolphins, whales, and dugongs), sea cucumbers (Holothuria), napoleon wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus), and groupers are major sub-sea fauna found at Komodo National Park.

Marine Flora: 
The three major coastal marine plants:

• Algae


• Sea grasses


• Mangrove trees.

Terrestrial Ecosystem:

• Long dry season (April to October) with high temperatures and low rainfall.


• A transition zone shared between Australian and Asian flora and fauna.


• Open grass-woodland savannas, tropical deciduous (monsoon) forests and quasi-cloud forests.


• A shared trait among many of the park’s terrestrial plants species is that they are xerophytes, capable of obtaining and retaining water to survive the cyclical drought period.


• Terrestrial plants includes: grasses, shrubs, orchids, and trees. 

Important food trees include Jatropha curkas, Zizyphus sp., Opuntia sp., Tamarindus indicus, Borassus flabellifer, Sterculia foetida, Ficus sp., Cicus sp., ‘Kedongdong hutan’ (Saruga floribunda), and ‘Kesambi’ (Schleichera oleosa).

Terrestrial Fauna
Many mammals found at the park are Asiatic in origin - deer, pigs, macaques, civets. Other mammals include Timor deer (Cervus timorensis), wild horses (Equus sp.), water buffalos (Bubalus bubalis), wild boars (Sus scrofa vittatus), long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis), palm civets (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus lehmanni), the endemic Rinca rat (Rattus rintjanus), fruit bats, goats, feral dogs and domestic cats. 

Several bird species are Australian in origin - orange-footed scrubfowl, the lesser sulpher-crested cockatoo and the nosy friarbird. 27 species observed in the park’s savanna area include: Geopelia striata and Streptopelia chinensis. Philemon buceroides, Ducula aenea, and Zosterops chloris are observed in the mixed deciduous habitat that is home to 28 bird species. 

Reptiles at the park include, of course, the legendary Komodo ‘’Dragon,’’ 12 snake species including the cobra (Naja naja sputatrix), Russel’s pit viper (Vipera russeli), and the green tree vipers (Trimeresurus albolabris). Lesser lizards include 9 skink species (Scinidae), geckos (Gekkonidae), limbless lizards (Dibamidae), and the monitor lizards (Varanidae). Frogs species include the Asian Bullfrog (Kaloula baleata), Oreophyne jeffersoniana and Oreophyne darewskyi.