Volume 1, No. 19. October 19, 2001
New Arrivals
It's a Komodo exhibit!
The Los Angeles Zoo in California announces the arrival of Dragons of
Komodo, October 11, 2001. Measurements: Three habitats totalling 1,488 square
feet (451 square meters), two dragons. Delivered by Masonry/Rockatecture Inc.,
and the Los Angeles Zoo's Construction Division.
"Build it and they will come," but not Komo the Komodo. One half of the LA Zoo's
pair of dragons, Komo, didn't make it to the ceremonial opening of his new home
because he had fractured his front, left leg about a week before, apparently
while exploring the new habitat prior to the public unveiling. Komo is being
kept in a confined space off-view to let the bone heal. Meanwhile, his fellow
Komodo, Modo, did bask in the glory of media attention—or, at least, he
basked in the sunlight in the exhibit's common-space—when Zoo Director
Manual A. Mollinedo, Zoo Commission President Susan Mazzarella and donor Myra
Wildhorn cut the ribbon on the $450,000 themed exhibit.
The two male, 3-year-old dragons had outgrown their window exhibit in the Reptile
House. So the zoo turned an un-used roundhouse in the Australian section into
an exhibit hall dedicated to the Komodos featuring authentic Bali statues and
a thatch-roofed, hand-carved wood entryway painted in gold, red and green to
replicate the Indonesian homeland of these reptiles.
The habitat itself is U-shaped and divided into three
sections. On one side is Komo's territory designed as the mud banks of Komodo
Island's coast. In the other wing resides Modo, whose room looks like a lush
bamboo forest. Each individual habitat is 525 square feet (159 square meters),
and they are joined at one end by a 438-square-foot (133-square-meter) common
room covered in mesh to allow natural sunlight in. The habitats feature murals
depicting the Komodos' natural habitat painted by Senior Animal Keeper Ian Recchio.
The explorative Komo, though, has already prompted a change in the interior
design of his habitat. Keepers suspect he climbed up artificial stonework to
explore a skylight and broke his leg while descending, so they have removed
one of the rocks to keep Komo from hurting himself again.