Editing Komodo dragon (section)

===In captivity===
[[File:Juvenile Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis) 2.jpg|left|thumb|Juvenile at the [[Bronx Zoo]].]]
[[File:Varanidae - Varanus komodoensis - Komodo Dragon.webm|thumb|left|Komodo dragon feeding on a carcass, [[San Diego Zoo]] (video clip)]]

Komodo dragons have long been sought-after zoo attractions, where their size and reputation make them popular exhibits. They are, however, rare in zoos because they are susceptible to infection and parasitic disease if captured from the wild, and do not readily reproduce in captivity.<ref name="amnh" /> A pair of Komodo dragons was displayed at the [[Bronx Zoo]] in New York in September 1926, but they only lasted a couple of months, dying in October and November 1926.<ref name="barnard">{{cite journal |last=Barnard |first=Timothy P. |date=October 2011 |title=Protecting the Dragon: Dutch Attempts at Limiting Access to Komodo Lizards in the 1920s and 1930s |journal=Indonesian |pages=97–123|doi=10.5728/indonesia.92.0097 |volume=92|issue=92 }}</ref> The first Komodo dragons were displayed at [[London Zoo]] in 1927. A Komodo dragon was exhibited in 1934 in the United States at the [[National Zoological Park (United States)|National Zoo in Washington, D.C.]], but it lived for only two years. More attempts to exhibit Komodo dragons were made, but the lifespan of the animals in captivity at the time proved very short, averaging five years in the National Zoological Park. Studies were done by Walter Auffenberg, which were documented in his book ''The Behavioral Ecology of the Komodo Monitor'', eventually allowing for more successful management and breeding of the dragons in captivity.<ref name="komo" /> [[Surabaya Zoo]] in Indonesia has been breeding Komodo dragons since 1990 and had 134 dragons in 2022, the largest collection outside its natural habitat.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://phys.org/news/2022-06-indonesian-zoo-dozens-endangered-baby.html|title=Indonesian zoo breeds dozens of endangered baby Komodo dragons|date=18 June 2022|access-date=1 December 2023|work=Phys}}</ref> As of May 2009, there were 35 North American, 13 European, one Singaporean, two African, and two Australian institutions which housed captive Komodo dragons.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://app.isis.org/abstracts/Abs50024.asp |title=ISIS Abstracts |publisher=[[International Species Information System|ISIS]] |access-date=4 January 2009}}</ref> In 2016, four Komodo dragons were transferred from Bronx zoo to [[Madras Crocodile Bank Trust]] in India.<ref>{{cite news|title=A date with the dragons|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/a-date-with-komodo-dragons-in-chennai/article8489511.ece|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=18 April 2016|access-date=1 December 2023}}</ref>

A variety of behaviors have been observed from captive specimens. Most individuals become relatively tame within a short time,<ref name="procter">{{cite journal |last=Procter |first=J.B. |date=October 1928 |title=On a living Komodo Dragon ''Varanus komodoensis'' Ouwens, exhibited at the Scientific Meeting |journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London |pages=1017–19|doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1928.tb07181.x |volume=98 |issue=4|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="lederer">{{cite journal |last=Lederer |first=G. |year=1931 |title=Erkennen wechselwarme Tiere ihren Pfleger? |journal=Wochenschrift für Aquarien- und Terrarienkunde  |volume=28 |pages=636–38}}</ref> and are capable of recognising individual humans and discriminating between familiar and unfamiliar keepers.<ref name="dragons">{{cite journal |last=Murphy |first=James B. |author2=Walsh, Trooper |year=2006 |title=Dragons and Humans |journal=Herpetological Review | volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=269–75}}</ref> Komodo dragons have also been observed to engage in play with a variety of objects, including shovels, cans, plastic rings, and shoes. This behavior does not seem to be "food-motivated predatory behavior".<ref name="firefly" /><ref name="sciam"/><ref>{{cite journal |title=Such jokers, those Komodo dragons |journal=Science News | volume = 162|issue =1 |page= 78|date=August 2002 |doi=10.1002/scin.5591620516}}</ref>

Even seemingly docile dragons may become unpredictably aggressive, especially when the animal's territory is invaded by someone unfamiliar. In June 2001, a Komodo dragon seriously injured [[Phil Bronstein]], the then-husband of actress [[Sharon Stone]], when he entered its enclosure at the [[Los Angeles Zoo]] after being invited in by its keeper. Bronstein was bitten on his bare foot, as the keeper had told him to take off his white shoes and socks, which the keeper stated could potentially excite the Komodo dragon as they were the same colour as the white rats the zoo fed the dragon.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,133163,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101030110859/http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,133163,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 October 2010 |title=Transcript: Sharon Stone vs. the Komodo Dragon |access-date=20 March 2008 |date=23 June 2001 | first=Jess | last=Cagle}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Robinson, Phillip T. |title=Life at the Zoo: Behind the Scenes with the Animal Doctors |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |year=2004 |page=[https://archive.org/details/lifeatzoobehind00robi/page/79 79] |isbn=978-0-231-13248-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeatzoobehind00robi/page/79 }}</ref> Although he survived, Bronstein needed to have several tendons in his foot reattached surgically.<ref>{{cite news |work=San Francisco Chronicle |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/06/11/MN204069.DTL |title=Editor stable after attack by Komodo dragon / Surgeons reattach foot tendons of Chronicle's Bronstein in L.A. |access-date=23 March 2008 | first=Angelica | last=Pence | date=11 June 2001}}</ref>