Pulau Komodo, directly in the centre of the island-strewn strait between Sunbawa and Flores is the home of the world’s largest reptile, the Komodo dragon. This giant monitor lizard is one of the world’s oldest species, a close relative of the dinosaurs that roamed the earth 100 million years ago. Komodo island lies 500 km east of Bali and is 30 km long on its north-south axis and 16 km at its widest point. The island’s parched hills are covered with scrub brush and small palm trees. Several hundred adult lizards live on Komodo. The adult male can reach three meters in length and weigh 150 kilograms. Females attain only two-third of this size and lay up to 30 eggs at a time. The greatest threat to the monitors comes from deer poaches, who kill off animals upon which the lizards feed. Dogs are sometimes abandoned on the island and compete with the dragon and eat the dragon’s eggs.