Dragons invade Fort Worth Zoo (baby ones, that is)

They were just about a foot long and weighed as much as a bar of soap, but 11 young Komodo dragons hatched at the Fort Worth Zoo will grow large enough to dine on water buffalo, a zoo spokeswoman said Monday.

The hatchlings emerged from their shells in October, but the zoo wanted to keep an eye on them for awhile before announcing the hatch and putting one on exhibit.

"They wanted to just give the animals some time to get acclimated to their space," and make sure they were eating on their own, said Avery Elander, zoo public relations manager.

What do they eat? At the zoo, it's pinkie mice, crickets, mealworms, waxworms and trout. In their native habitat, which is in grasslands and monsoon forests of the Indonesian archipelago, including the island of Komodo, they start out eating grasshoppers, small beetles and eggs. When they reach adulthood, they dine on small mammals and animals up to deer- and water buffalo-size.

The hatch was the first in the zoo's 108-year history, Elander said. She added that the zoo will keep one or two and in the future send the others out on loan to zoos around the United States.

The Komodo dragon is considered "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Because the parents are genetically diverse, the babies will help preserve the species.

Mom, which came to the zoo from Prague in 2012, is 7 years old, 6 feet long and weighs 26 pounds. The male parent, which came from the Denver Zoo in 2012, is 7 years old, 6-and-a-half feet long and weighs 44 pounds. Adult males can reach more than 8 feet in length and weigh up to 200 pounds.

The zoo kept the hatchlings apart from the parents, which are known to eat the young ones.

Judy Wiley, 817-390-7843, @judygwiley

This story was originally published November 27, 2017 at 1:10 PM with the headline "Dragons invade Fort Worth Zoo (baby ones, that is)."