Female Komodo Dragon Bites Zookeeper In Omaha

A four-foot long female Komodo dragon bit a zookeeper at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Nebraska on Sunday. The attack happened while the zoo employee was performing routine animal care inside the dragon’s cage, according to Time.

Although the zoo has a nurse on hand, the nurse failed to stop the bleeding, prompting the zoo staff to rush the female zookeeper to the Nebraska Medical Center for treatment. The injured employee had two stitches on the top of her hand and was released from the hospital and is expected to recover, reports Omaha.com.

The zoo has three Komodo dragons, which are actually lizards. Two juvenile dragons are at the zoo’s Desert Dome, while a larger male dragon named Albi is at the Cat Complex. The incident has led the zoo to order an investigation.

Stephanie Huettner, assistant general curator at the zoo, said that disease is not a concern since the zookeeper was given antibiotics. She adds that even if Komodo dragons are predators, it is usually docile and not interested in humans. Although the cage is visible to visitors, no one saw the biting incident, Huettner said.

Animal attacks or bites are part of the hazards of trade in working in a zoo or circuses. A 200-pound Malaysian tiger bit the arm of the zoo’s head veterinarian in 2009. Nationalzoo.si.edu said that Komodo dragons produce venom with toxins that causes the animal it bit to go into shock and its blood decreases from clotting. It is possibly the result of the bacteria in the dragon’s mouth that infects the prey and causes it to die, according to biologists.

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