Indonesia says it’s scrapping plans to close Komodo island

The country’s environment minister said on Monday that the animals’ population is relatively stable and not under threat

A local governor had said earlier this year that the island needed to be closed to stop poaching and tourists interfering with the dragon’s mating habits

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A Komodo dragon pictured in Indonesia in 2010. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:20pm, 30 Sep 2019Updated: 12:11pm, 1 Oct 2019

Indonesia has decided it does not need to close the eastern island of Komodo next year as planned because its population of rare Komodo dragons is relatively stable and not under threat, the environment minister said on Monday.

East Nusa Tenggara Governor Viktor B. Laiskodat said in July that the island needed to be closed to the public to stop tourism from interfering in the dragon’s mating and hatching processes and to cut the risk of poaching of the reptiles’ prey, including deer, buffalo and wild boar.

The island would be reopened after about a year as a premium tourist destination, according to the plan.

But Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said data showed the population of dragons, the largest living species of lizard, had been stable for more than a decade.

A Komodo dragon strolls along a beach in Komodo Island National Park. Photo: EPA

“[The number of] Komodo dragons on Komodo island during 2002 to 2019 observations has been relatively stable. There is no threat of a decline,” Bakar said by text message.