Indonesia Deadly 60

My name is Steve Backshall.

Ooh!

It's Deadly 60.

That's not just animals that are deadly to me,

but animals that are deadly in their own world.

'My crew and I are travelling the planet.'

And you're coming with me

every step of the way.

This time on Deadly 60, we're in Indonesia.

It's an archipelago, which means a whole bunch of islands.

There's lots of them, very spread out and there aren't many roads,

so the best way of getting around is by boat.

I've spent many months here,

speak the language and know the country well.

It's home to an animal I've been dying to put on my list.

A living, breathing dragon.

That's right. Dragons aren't just the stuff of myths and legends.

Indonesia hides a real-life, flesh-tearing,

bone-crunching monster from a lost world.

The mighty Komodo dragon.

My crew and I are leaving civilisation behind

and heading to a place where dinosaurs still rule.

Go, go, go, go!

The only place this leviathan lizard still lives is

on a few parched forbidding islands.

Back up! Back up!

No, no, no. Whoa, whoa, whoa! Whoa, whoa!

The early explorers that came to this part of the world

were so frightened by the wild, rugged islands

and the treacherous seas in between them that they, actually,

on their maps, just simply wrote, "Here be dragons."

It seems kind of crazy now, but actually they were totally spot on.

The islands that we are heading to are the only place on Earth

where there are still real, living dragons.

'Isolated for around a million years on this small group of islands

'that now make up the Komodo National Park,

'these giant monitor lizards are not only the largest lizards on Earth,

'but are truly venomous.'

Hello!

'So, as soon as I arrive, I'm immediately issued

'with the very latest, state-of-the-art

'dragon defence equipment.'

-Right.

-Ha-ha-ha!

OK, so as this is a national park, no-one is obviously allowed

to carry any guns or anything that could harm the dragons,

but you do need a little protection, so I've got a stick.

What use that's going to be against a three-metre monster

I have no idea, but it's better than nothing.

'With no roads on the island, it's all foot power from here on in.

'There are an estimated 5,000 dragons hiding in the mountains,

'forests and caves on these islands.

'So the team and I are heading for a system of waterholes,

'where the dragons are known to hang around.'

'It's not long before we get our first whiff

'that there might be dragons nearby.'

There's a terrible smell in the air.

It smells a bit like death.

There might well be the remains of a carcass around here somewhere.

'With senses now on high alert, we move on.

'But it's not a dragon waiting for us.

'It's a different giant resident.

'A water buffalo.

'And, astonishingly, this enormous animal

'actually falls prey to dragons.'

It seems remarkable that a lizard

would take on and kill an animal this size,

like this buffalo.

I mean, look at it. It is massive.

But Komodos don't try and completely overpower it,

like perhaps a pride of lions would.

Instead, they have a very nifty trick

that allows them to bite the animal

and release it and just wait for it to die.

Dragons have 60 teeth that are as sharp as scalpels.

And secrete toxic venom from large glands

at the front of their lower jaw.

The dragon may bite repeatedly over several hours or even days

breaking down the prey's defences.

Then all they have to do is wait.

However, like all monitor lizards,

'dragons are also opportunists and scavengers

'and they will take an easy meal, if possible.

'So, they've taken to hanging out by the local ranger station,

'hoping for tasty leftovers.

'Around the guide's quarters is a regular dragons' den.'

Ei! My goodness, right there. Look! Yeah!

Our first dragon is right in front of us.

'And it wasn't alone.'

Over there. Look.

Such an awe-inspiring animal.

'Suddenly, there were dragons everywhere.'

We're just surrounded by dinosaurs. Ooh, yeah.

They can really motor when they need to.

I think you might want to back up a little bit there, Greg.

'As opportunists, these lizards would try and eat

'anything they think they can get away with.

'Even, occasionally, people.

'It seems that pickings around the guides' huts must be pretty good,

'cos there are lots of dragons here, and they are big!'

So, these are Komodo dragons.

The largest lizards on Earth.

And just extraordinarily broad, powerful.

OK, big fella, it's all right. It's OK.

Don't want to move quickly, cos that could trigger a predatory response.

Much safer just staying calm and still.

It looks like he's trying to regurgitate something.

'Seeing the dragons on the islands of Komodo might not be hard,

'but they are so efficient that they can go

'a very long time without hunting.

'So it could be tricky to see them at their deadly best.

'I do have a few ideas though.'

There's one bit of science I'd really like to try

with the Komodo dragons here.

This is a bite test gauge.

It measures the force of the bite of an animal.

So if I bite on this here...

It should register

about 120 pounds per square inch.

'To get the dragons to bite,

'we're going to need a little bit of encouragement

'in the form of some honking meat.'

We have a bite test gauge with stinking rotten meat on it.

Let's see what damage our Komodo dragons can do.

'Lizards aren't generally known for the force of their bite.

'So, I'd like to find out what this super-sized specimen can do.'

Is it going to actually bite down, though?

OK, that felt like more of a bite.

'With the smell of blood in the air,

'I'm suddenly surrounded by ravenous, drooling jaws.'

OK, guys. It's all right, we'll let it, we'll let it take it.

Back off, back off. That's fine.

So they're just chomping away at it now.

Hopefully... Wow!

They'll get the meat off there and I'll be able to recover

the bite test gauge and see what we registered.

So, you can really see how that tail can be used as a defensive weapon.

It's like it's been hit by a baseball bat.

I'm just going to wait a couple of minutes before I go in

and get my gauge back.

'With the meat gone,

'I carefully go in to see how much power the dragons are packing.'

Wow!

Well, that is much more than I was expecting.

We've got nearly 600 pounds per square inch,

which is five times a human bite force.

And much more than I expect from a monitor lizard.

I mean, these animals have really light-weight skulls.

They actually rely far more

on their very sharp, backwards-facing teeth

to deliver a killing bite than they do on the force of their bite.

So to have a bite that strong is incredible.

Look at that! That's amazing.

'So far, so utterly terrifying.

'But I'd like to see Komodo dragons in full hunting mode

'before I put them on my list.

'So I'll be back for more dragon action later!'

'Now, though, I'm heading for one of the other islands

'of the national park, where there's another lethal lizard on the loose

'that could be a candidate for my Deadly 60.

'And this one is small enough to fit in my hand.

'Which means it's going to be pretty tricky to catch.'

Where, where, where...

Ooh!

Ah! I missed it!

Oh, rats!

Oh!

Ah!

Beautiful! It was absolutely beautiful.

'This might take a while.

'So, what are we hunting?

'Well, this is the draco lizard, often called

'the flying lizard.

'And as well as being a pretty formidable pocket-size predator,

'it also has a very special way of getting around.

'Luckily, the local islanders have decided to give me a hand

'with much more success.'

No way!

HE SPEAKS INDONESIAN

It seems a little bit odd,

in an island filled with the world's largest lizards,

to be getting so excited about one tiny little one,

but this really is one of the most remarkable lizards

found in the whole world.

The scientific name is the draco.

The common name though is rather more illustrative.

These are called flying lizards.

And I'll show you why.

The ribs expand

and the flap of skin between them

actually creates a kind of parachute.

And these lizards don't truly fly, they glide.

So, when it's out hunting for bugs and insects up in the treetops

or escaping from a predator itself, it can simple launch itself,

it can simple launch itself into the air

and parachute down to another tree or even to the ground.

They've been known to glide enormous distances,

up to 60 metres.

That's as long as six double-decker buses.

Not bad for an animal that's only the length of a pencil.

Well, I'd really like to show you them at work.

So what we need to do is to get as high as possible

and then allow the draco to escape.

And it should parachute down beautifully towards earth

or towards another tree.

Let's give it a go.

OK, if I just stand up on this tree,

and aim it over there.

Let's see.

OK, so... You're free.

That was just beautiful!

With the camera slowed right down,

you can see just how controlled and elegant

the glide of this lizard really is.

But at the same time,

though it is very good at evading predators,

it is also a fabulous tree-top muncher itself,

so it will scamper around in the canopy

looking for little bugs which it will munch down

and all the time it has that wonderful defence on its side.

They are absolutely awesome.

The death-defying, gravity denying draco lizard.

They are absolutely spectacular and I think definitely deadly.

With grip and balance, ideal for a life in the trees,

a lean, bug chasing body

and an built in parachute for death-defying tree-to-tree leaps.

This little lizard glides neatly onto the Deadly 60.

Indonesia is a true paradise for reptiles.

Not just lizards but also around 350 species of snakes.

Further to the west in Bali,

my crew is on a night-time snake search.

Many of the local serpents are arboreal, or tree climbing,

and it's up in the canopy where we see our first find.

Oh, well spotted.

That's our first snake. It is way high up,

but at least it proves they're here, which is a start.

OK, now I need to find one that is more this kind of level.

After three hours of hot and sweaty searching,

I've found spiders,

frogs, scorpions,

and an old friend, the Tokay Gecko.

All of which could make a tasty snake snack.

But then, just as we're about to call it a night...

We've found one!

Well done!

I wish I could say that I'd found it

but it wasn't actually me, it was one of the crew.

It's a Green Pit Viper.

It's arboreal, that means it chooses to spend

the vast majority of its time in the trees.

You can see from just hanging there, perfectly on my snake hook,

how well balanced it is and already,

how the end of the tail has curled around this piece of bamboo.

It has taken a grip.

This is an absolute master at hunting up in the canopy.

'It uses that tail to anchor itself in its striking position

'and waits, motionless.

'The dazzling emerald green colour

'camouflages it perfectly amongst the leaves.

'Tree-dwelling lizards, frogs,

'birds and rodents are all on its hit list.

'The snake strikes at phenomenal velocity.

'The needle-like fangs deliver a squirt of venom

'into the animal's bloodstream.

It has the classic arrow shaped head of a viper.

Bright, bright red eye and at the moment,

its tongue flickering out crazily on the air.

Just gathering in sensory information.

And look at the colours.

It is the most glorious, spectacular emerald-green,

with hints of blue in there as well.

Obviously, the reason it's called a Green Pit Viper is the colour,

but the pits themselves, those are the really cunning bits.

These are called loreal pits,

they're in between the eye and the nostril.

That pit is sensitive to changes in temperature.

It's absolutely superb at picking up the moving muscles in its prey.

It really is a snake super sense.

They do get quite a bit bigger than this,

this is still quite a small one, but even so,

it still has plenty potent enough venom

to even give me a very nasty day.

Looking down the barrel of one of the prettiest snakes I've ever seen,

I'm in no doubt that the Green Pit Viper is on the Deadly 60.

'Wearing emerald green, the perfect camo colour,

'with a heat sensitive targeting system to locate its prey,

'and fangs injecting a potent venom.

'It may be beautiful but it's also very deadly.

'So that's two Indonesian reptiles added to my list.

'But we're not done with dragons yet.

'I'm back on the hunt for living dinosaurs.

'There's tell of a cave system on Rinca island

'which could be a good spot for lounging lizards.'

Wow, look at this. Quiet, everyone, just a sec.

I can hear the sounds of lots of chattering voices

and lots of fluttering wings.

There's a big bat colony inside here.

Which unfortunately means from here on in,

things are going to get a bit stinky.

Right, let's find our way down.

Oh, that honks!

I don't know what we'll find inside here.

Komodo dragons like to hang out in caves at this time of the day.

So, everyone very much keep your eyes on everyone else's backs.

Oh, come here, Greg, quick, quick, quick.

Look at that! There are thousands of them!

They're giant flying foxes, fruit bats

and they don't feed on insects,

they purely head out to try and find fruit

and there are thousands of them in here, absolutely thousands.

OK, guys, I've found out what one of the bad smells is from.

There's a dead deer in here.

And in all likelihood, that has been finished off by a Komodo dragon.

So we really need to watch our backs here.

It's a gruesome discovery and a great sign for our search.

But I'm starting to go off the idea

of finding a three-metre monster in such a small space.

There's a chamber off this way.

Oh, we've got a nice big whip spider here.

There he is. Look at that, that's a biggie.

Oh, look, it's gone into threat posture.

'Who knows what other creepy creatures

'might be lurking off in the darkness?

'We push further into the caves,

'every shadow seeming to harbour hidden monsters.'

Wow, this is incredible.

Every single square centimetre of ceiling

is covered in these beautiful bats.

Look at their faces, very, very different to the micro bats,

the bats that feed on insects.

They have this incredibly, I guess, fox-like face.

They are very furry, they have long noses and big eyes as well.

Perfect for seeking out fruit and nectar at night time.

The cave's getting pretty narrow back here,

and space is starting to run out.

Look at that!

This is just crazy!

Whoa!

'Fruit bats, or flying foxes, are the biggest bats

'found anywhere in the world.

'Some species can have a 1.5 metre wing span

'and weigh the same as a bag of sugar.

'It's getting close to sunset outside,

'which is the time these bats wake up to go out foraging.

'So it's time for us to get out of here.'

OK, let's go. That way.

'Emerging from the cave,

'I was almost glad not to have come face to face

'with a dragon in the dark.

'With our time in Indonesia running out,

'I'm heading back to the rangers' station

'to try out another deadly experiment.'

The simple truth about Komodo dragons

is they're so good at conserving energy,

they can go for many days without hunting.

So, we have got a short cut to see them at their dangerous best.

I have here what remains of a chunk of meat.

'I'm hoping that by hanging the meat in a tree,

'just away from the rangers' offices

'I can encourage some predatory behaviour

'in the local dragons.'

Now all we need to do is entice in some dragons.

And I have just the idea.

'I'm planning to lure them from where they're lounging in the shade

'to feed on the meat in the tree,

'using a small chunk as bait.'

This is the special dead goat tying knot that I learned in Scouts!

OK, we've already got interest, guys.

So...yeah.

Right, OK, let's move, guys. Let's get going.

Oh. Oopsy!

'One whiff of the meat

'and the dragons' shift in speed is remarkable.'

Right, we have got interest.

I don't think we'll need any food

because I think they're coming after us.

OK, so, guys, which direction are we going?

'The dragons' reaction took us all by surprise.'

They do move fast, don't they?

OK, guys, go, go, go.

HE TALKS IN INDONESIAN

OK, here they come.

Greg. Greg. Greg.

Look at that. It's a completely different animal.

Back up. Back up.

OK. Yeah, yeah.

Now hopefully, it'll start to scent the meat.

Yeah, it has. It's moving in the right direction.

HE TALKS IN INDONESIAN

Wow, it's amazing!

The total change in demeanour in this animal,

having scented meat.

Both of them, as they look for the source of food.

Look at this! The others are coming in as well.

Two more behind us. Make sure you watch your backs as well,

because they're everywhere now.

Look at the difference in speed and attitude.

All of a sudden, it's become completely clear

why this animal has to be on the Deadly 60 list.

When they're prowling like this, when they're hunting,

all of a sudden, they become totally formidable.

My goodness!

'I've hung the meat in the tree, just metres away,

'but for the moment that's not what they're interested in.'

OK, they're coming in.

Coming in towards me.

Watch my back, guys. If you see anything, just let me know.

I cannot believe the total change

in attitude of this animal.

No, no, no, no, no.

As soon as they've got food on the brain,

they change from a slumbering,

slow-moving creature,

into a predatory dinosaur.

And all of a sudden, they're not just hunting the meat,

they're hunting us.

I have to say, I really wasn't expecting this.

No, whoa, whoa, whoa!

OK, one of the dragons has the meat.

Over there, look. Tearing into it.

Wow!

I can see into its mouth,

the curved, backward facing teeth.

Look at the tail, thrashing around.

I cannot believe I'm this close to them feeding.

Wow!

That's incredible!

It's climbed up the other male

to get stuck into the food.

Komodo dragons are a little bit like crocodiles,

in that they struggle to chew their food.

They need to take a bite, then use their body strength

to rip chunks out of the meat.

And that's exactly what this animal is doing now.

These animals are capable of taking in almost their own body weight

in food in a single sitting,

and after a meal like that,

they could go for weeks without having to eat again.

Initially, this was very, very frightening indeed,

because it was obvious the animals had become very excited

by the scent of blood,

but hadn't yet found something to feed on.

They were concentrating on us.

Komodo dragons have very occasionally attacked,

and even killed human beings,

but you can see that once an easy source of food is available,

they're not focusing on us any more,

they're just centred on the meat.

'In all my years wildlife watching,

'this has been one of the very few times

'I've felt like an animal would attack me if it got the chance.

'A scary, but remarkable experience.'

There is no doubt the Komodo dragons have to go on the Deadly 60.

'From lazy to scary in the blink of an eye.

'60 scalpel sharp teeth

'and a surprisingly strong bite,

'and one of only a few lizards delivering lethal venom,

'which makes it the largest venomous animal.

'No doubt, deadly.'

'Join me next time as I continue my search for the Deadly 60.'

Whoa!

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