Protecting the Dragon: Dutch Attempts at Limiting Access to Komodo Lizards in the 1920s and 1930s

Jul 6, 2026

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The article examines how Dutch colonial authorities and associated institutions attempted to control access to Komodo lizards during the 1920s and 1930s, amid intense public fascination. It traces how high-profile specimens reached the West—such as the 1926 Burden Expedition’s live lizards that became Bronx Zoo sensations—while addressing issues of rarity, scale, and misconceptions in newspapers and scientific journals. The study links media publicity to scientific interest, collecting, and long-term efforts to manage and protect the species.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages28

Reading Time1 h 11 min

Introduction

Public fascination and media attention

Rarity, range, and misconceptions

The Burden Expedition and institutional networks

From lizards to “dragons” and scientific/collecting impacts

Protecting the Dragon: Dutch Attempts at Limiting Access to Komodo Lizards in the 1920sand 1930s Author(s): Timothy P. Barnard Source: Indonesia , No. 92 (October 2011), pp. 97-123 Published by: Southeast Asia Program Publications at Cornell University Stable URL: [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5728/indonesia.92.0097](https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5728/indonesia.92.0097) JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [support@jstor.org](support@jstor.org). Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at [https://about.jstor.org/terms](https://about.jstor.org/terms) Southeast Asia Program Publications at Cornell University is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Indonesia This content downloaded from [152.118.150.55](152.118.150.55) on Wed, 23 Oct 2019 09:35:01 UTC All use subject to [https://about.jstor.org/terms](https://about.jstor.org/terms) PROTECTING THE DRAGON: DUTCH ATTEMPTS AT LIMITING ACCESS TO KOMODO LIZARDS IN THE 1920 S AND 1930 S Timothy P. Barnard “[The Komodo dragon] has to be protected chiefly against the passion of collectors for Musea.”1 – K. W. Dammerman In September 1926, an expedition under the leadership of W. Douglas Burden, and representing the American Museum of Natural History, returned from the Netherlands East Indies with two live, gigantic monitor lizards, soon dubbed Komodo dragons, which were housed in New York’s Bronx Zoo. The presence of these two large lizards caused a sensation. Crowds—for example, the Bronx Zoo received 38,000 visitors on September 12—jostled to see the “descendants of the mammoth reptiles.”2 Although the two animals only survived in New York City for a couple of months (one died on October 19 and the other on November 14), they generated a tremendous amount of publicity and coverage in the local press. The crowds that were drawn to the zoo during those two months in 1926 were willing to pay to see these visitors from 1 K. W. Dammerman, Preservation of Wild Life and Nature Reserves in the Netherlands Indies (Weltevreden: Emmink, 1929), p. 13. 2 “Giant Lizards, which Airman Called Dragons, and Tapir with 40-inch Nose Come to Zoo,”New York Times, September 11, 1926, p. 17; Louis Rich,“Dragons of Legend Come to Bronx Zoo,”New York Times, September 19, 1926, p. 5. Indonesia 92 (October 2011) This content downloaded from [152.118.150.55](152.118.150.55) on Wed, 23 Oct 2019 09:35:01 UTC All use subject to [https://about.jstor.org/terms](https://about.jstor.org/terms) 98 Timothy P. Barnard Indonesia, as they were perceived as links to an antediluvian past, originating from a distant, little understood land—a perspective that seemed to originate in popular books of the period, such as Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World. Much of the public fascination with Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) was due to their rarity and size. The Komodo dragon is the largest lizard in the world. Prior to World War Two, many newspapers and even scientific journals reported that lizards from Komodo could grow to seven meters (almost twenty-three feet) in length. In reality, they can reach a maximum length of three meters (almost ten feet) . Komodo dragons also have a very limited range. They can only be found in the western extremes of Flores Island and on a few small islands—particularly Komodo and Rinca—located between Flores and Sumbawa. Komodo dragons were unknown to the world before 1912, when an article in a relatively obscure Dutch science journal, published in Java, mentioned the discovery of a new species.3 While a few expeditions during the 1910s and early 1920s did make their way to the east

FAQs

What prompted major public interest in Komodo lizards in the 1920s?

Their extreme rarity and impressive size fueled widespread curiosity, amplified by sensational press coverage and claims that exaggerated their maximum length.

What happened to the Komodo lizards brought to the United States in 1926?

The Burden Expedition returned with two live lizards housed at New York’s Bronx Zoo, where they drew large crowds and extensive local publicity, though both animals survived only a short period.

Why did Dutch and related actors try to limit access to Komodo lizards?

The article connects access control to managing exploitation by collectors and institutions, since publicity and specimen acquisition helped drive collecting, scientific interest, and long-term pressures on the species.

Jul 6, 2026

Upload by Skyler