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Indonesia to shut the Komodo Island for public from January 2020

Saturday, August 31, 2019

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Indonesia has confirmed that it will shut the Komodo Island for public from January next year. This move comes for conserving the world’s largest living lizard species, the Komodo Dragon. The plan also involves relocating around 2000 inhabitants off the island.

 

Deputy Governor of the province of East Nusa Tenggara Josef Nae Soi said that as of now, authorities are talking with community leaders for relocation of the residents. It is believed that there are around 1700 giant lizards living on Komodo Island, but their numbers have reduced in the last few years due to poaching and over-tourism.

 

The number of tourists arriving in the island went up in recent years, with the Komodo National Park registering more than 176000 visitors in 2018. Hence, for saving the Komodo dragons from extinction, Soi said that the shutting down would last for at least 12 months. It is very likely that the island might reopen after that, but there stands a possibility of it turning into a premium tourist destination.

 

The closure plan has upset the locals here, as they earn their living by taking the visitors to Komodo National Park. Other than Komodo Island, there are other islands in the national park including Padar and Rinca that are home to more than 1400 of the giant lizards. These will remain open to tourists.

 

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