Behavior and Neurology of Lizards 
N. Greenberg and P. D. MacLean, eds. 
NIMH, 1978. 
Social and Feeding Behavior in 
Varanus Komodoensis 
Walter Auffenberg 
Florida State Museum 
University of Florida 
SUMMARY. The social and feeding behavior of the Komodo monitor (Varanus komodoensis) 
is described and shown to differ significantly from that of iguanid and agamid lizards. Scent 
plays a major role in individual and sexual recognition and carrion location, as well as in prey 
ambush and stalking. Population density, activity ranges, and territoriality are discussed with 
respect to intraspecies interactions. Communicative and display behavior related to spacing and 
social hierarchy phenomena are influenced by visual, olfactory, tactile, and auditory factors. Ter- 
ritorial behavior is related to the size and sex of the animals and ranges from exclusive use by 
large, resident, sexually mature males to complete lack of established ranges among the smaller 
members of the population. 
Komodo monitors are opportunistic carnivores, the adults feeding on live prey or carrion rang- 
ing in size from insects to water buffalos. The species is behaviorally and morphologically 
adapted to ingest as much food as possible in the shortest time. Adults are highly successful 
predators of live animals, either from ambush or by stalking, and feed largely on deer. 
Evidence is presented that there is pair bonding of some large mature monitors. Activity 
ranges of male and female pair members overlap broadly; that the individuals recognize one 
another seems assured. Ritualized courtship behavior occurs at every meeting. Most courtship 
and mating takes place at carrion feeding sites. 
INTRODUCTION 
Most of what we know about lizard be- 
havior is limited to species of the families 
Iguanidae and Agamidae. Consequently the 
behavioral patterns of these two groups are 
often taken as representative of lizards in 
general. 
The present account focuses on the social 
and feeding behavior of the Komodo monitor 
or ora (Varanus komodoensis), based on a 
13-month field study conducted on the islands 
of Komodo and Padar (July, 1969-June, 
1970 and August, 1972) and Flores (June- 
July, 1971), Lesser Sunda Group, Republic 
of Indonesia. 
The species is believed to be near the evolu- 
tionary base of the family Varanidae 
(Mertens, 1942). None of the species com- 
prising the family is well known behavior- 
ally, mainly because (1) most varanid species 
attain large size and are difficult to maintain 
under laboratory conditions, and (2) popula- 
tion densities tend to be low in the wild. 
HABITAT 
The behavioral repertoire of poikilo- 
thermic animals depends on the limitations 
and opportunities of the habitat, as well as 
on the morphologic and physiological charac- 
teristics of the species. 
The most important environmental in- 
ffuence on V. komodoensis is the open, sa- 
vanna type habitat. Thus, insolation is high, 
and V. komodoensis is normally subjected to 
great heat loads. Forests at the lower eleva- 
tions are deciduous, monsoon types. The 
major problem faced by larger specimens, 
and perhaps also by the smaller animals, is 
ridding the body of excess heat (McNab and 
Auffenberg, 1976). This physiological prob- 
lem continually interferes with daily be- 
301 
