The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA), which promotes the values of good zoos and aquariums, has put together their own list of the top ten reptiles and amphibians who have most benefitted from the support of zoos this year which Colchester Zoo's curator is proud to be an ambassador of.
Included in this list is the Komodo dragon, the largest living lizard whose population in the wild is estimated to be fewer than 4,000 individuals. Colchester Zoo introduced Komodo dragons to its collection in 2006 to become part of the European Endangered Species Breeding Programme (EEP) for this species.
To enable us to house Komodo dragons we built a state-of-the-art enclosure named 'Dragons of Komodo' to help replicate the Komodo dragons' natural environmental atmosphere.
After a successful mating of our two resident komodo dragons, Mutu and Telu have become the first dragons in the UK to breed through a natural mating.
Since this first success, we have had a remarkable success with Mutu and Telu, with over 20 hatchlings throughout the winter of 2013/14. With other collections becoming approved to house Komodo dragons, this is a great opportunity for Colchester Zoo to contribute to the breeding programme.
Our first successful hatchling, Curu, and four other of our young dragons can currently be seen in our 'Worlds Apart' exhibit.
Our charity, Action for the Wild's annual donation to the Wae Wuul Komodo dragon Conservation Project on the island of Flores in Indonesia will also serve to help conserve remaining wild populations of this vulnerable species for the future.
Find out more about how to adopt one of our komodo dragons, or donate to our charity Action for the Wild and help support our conservation projects worldwide.