Ranger in hospital after dragon attack
JAKARTA — A Komodo dragon has climbed a ladder to a park ranger’s hut and mauled his hand and foot.
The victim received severe lacerations and is recovering in hospital.
The attack on Rinca, one of three islands where the world’s largest lizard can be found in the wild, occurred Sunday when the animal entered the hut and lunged at the victim, who was sitting at his desk, said Daniel Ngongo, a Komodo National Park official.
The 46-year-old victim, Main, screamed for help and jumped onto his desk, clutching the neck of the still-snapping reptile.
According to local reports, the ranger then let go of the reptile and fled out the window as colleagues raced to his aid and used wooden sticks to force the dragon out of the hut.
Main, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, received more than 30 stitches,.
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“I’m lucky I survived,” he said from his hospital bed on nearby Bali. “Nothing like this has ever happened to me … in 25 years on the job. I’ve never been attacked.”
A Komodo dragon which killed an eight-year-old boy in 2007 on Komodo island was the first recorded deadly attack on a human by one of the giant lizards in 33 years.
Ian Jarrett
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