Dragon in Beirut

[I, Brian]

No, seriously - anyone here lost a lizard...in Beirut?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/3195937.stm

Giant lizard terrorises Beirut

He's big, he's a carnivore, he's terrorising the neighbourhood's residents, he's been swimming in people's pools and he's already claimed victims - several cats, a dog and apparently even a horse.

In Lebanon, a giant lizard has been roaming the streets of a Beirut suburb for several weeks, eluding all the attempts by the authorities to catch it.

He's Lebanon's own Komodo Dragon, or so say the witnesses who have seen him.

Komodo Dragons are an endangered species and live in Indonesia.
They belong to the family of monitor lizards.

It's believed that the one living just outside Beirut was brought to Lebanon by a German who lived here and eventually set him free.

About three months ago, one person sighted him, but his tale was dismissed as that of a crazy person.

But when pets started disappearing, people started paying attention.
It's still possible that the dragon is not a dragon at all, but one of many kinds of monitor lizards, all of which are carnivores.

The civil defence has stationed dozens of personnel all over the area, but it lacks the sophisticated equipment needed to catch the lizard without harming it.

The civil defence is now trying to take a picture of the lizard to prove it is indeed a Komodo Dragon and sent an appeal for help to nature and science TV channels.

[InLove]

Well--how about those dragons? I was looking around for the "Parthogenesis" thread to post this, and I found it. But then I found this one in the process. Thought the OP was interesting, and since it got no responses way back in '03, I decided to post here.

Lizard Love a Truly Singular Sensation - Health News - MSN Health & Fitness

InPeace,
InLove

[Promethium]

Thats pretty scary considering they are carnivores. Even if one survived an attack with only a bit wound they would have to deal with the killer bacteria spread from the dragons mouth.

[flowperson]

There was stuff all over the web a couple of days ago about a female Komodo's, at the Chester zoo in the UK, tendency to undergo parthenogenesis when her clock says to produce and no male is present to provide the usual male services. The headlines were all about virgin birth. It seems she's about to pop a few quite soon that are the result of parthenogenesis. If a bright star suddenly appears over Chester tonight, hmmm...you get the picture I think.

flow....