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Sat 21 Aug, 2004 01:38 pm
LONDON (Reuters) - Love could not conquer all for a rare, 10-year-old Komodo Dragon who plunged to her death at London Zoo after she scaled a dividing wall to reach her mate.
Six-foot-long (2-metre-long) Nina died from internal bleeding after she fell trying to reach Raja, who is still in good health and on display, a zoo spokesman said on Saturday.
"Immediate measures have been put in place to prevent a similar incident happening and we are carrying out a thorough investigation into what occurred," London Zoo's curator David Field said in a statement.
The Komodo Dragon is the largest flesh-eating lizard in the world and is found in the wild on only four small Indonesian islands. They number about 5,000 worldwide.
Nina arrived at the zoo last month and staff hoped she and Raja would mate and become a major attraction.
The dragons were being held in adjacent cages separated by an 8-foot-high wall with a gap at the top so they could gradually become accustomed to each other.
Sad story. Though true love.
It's like Troilus and Cressida, or-- to a lesser extent-- Romeo and Juliet: the aviary version!
Poor dragons though.
but they are such nasty things. They kill by the posion of the bacteria in their mouths. Then let their prey go and die a horrible death and then go eat them.
EWW!
They are horrid in some ways, I agree. I guess people have been too swept away with the romance of it... just like people forget that Romeo is a coward when they're reading R&J.
Or that Juliet is a little idiot.
Still, I have a soft spot for anything called a dragon.
they were both idiots if you ask me killing themselseves over such foolishness why couldnt they have just run anyway like any other couple in love....
Yeah.... like the lovers in 'A Midsummer Night's dream,' or Rosalind, or... anyone with some cop-on.
I've always found R&J overrated. Especially when one compares it to The Tempest... or Winter's Tale... or Measure for Measure... or nearly anything.... apart from Merry Wives :@ and some of the Histories...
I heartily agree. (I always get the giggles though when I hear someone deliver the dirty jokes in a serious tone because they know it's supposed to be a tragedy)
well enough to fondle his skull after he was dead
Hee hee! I never looked at 'em that way before! When you've got three in a row they look rather maniacal, don't they?
Yeah, they do: 3 in a row is like the emoticon world's equivalent of 'Here's Johnny,' minus the hair..
Question is, do any of us have the shining?
... Hamlet is a huge culprit for that, isn't it!?
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