Komodo Dragons Kill Indonesian Man

Two Komodo dragons mauled a fruit-picker to death in eastern Indonesia, police and witnesses said Tuesday, the latest in a string of attacks on humans by the world's largest lizard species.

31-yr-old Muhamad Anwar was on the island of Komodo, one of four places in the world the lizards can be found in the wild. Anwar was mauled after falling out of a sugar-apple tree.

He was bleeding badly from bites to his hands, body, legs and neck after two lizards, waiting below, attacked him, according to a neighbor, Theresia Tawa. He died at a clinic on the neighboring island of Flores soon after.

Attacks on humans by Komodo dragons — said to number at less than 4,000 in the wild — are rare, but seem to have increased in recent years.

An 8-year-old boy was killed in 2007 — the first recorded deadly attack on a human by one of the endangered lizards in three decades. A park ranger narrowly survived after one of the animals entered his hut last month and started biting his hands and legs.

Komodo Dragons are enormous reptiles that can grow up to 10 feet long and weigh a staggering 150 pounds. In addition to their enormous size, Komodo's also have shark-like serrated teeth and saliva that contains more than 50 strains of bacteria.

Anwar's death is a tragedy, but serves as a cogent reminder to excercise extreme caution around wild animals, no matter how unlikely an attack may seem.