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Two fantastic beasts are coming to Saskatoon – and it’ll be easy to find them.
A pair of Komodo dragons will be at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo for the next year.
The duo – named Thorn and Shruikan – is on loan from the Calgary Zoo.
“To bring an animal like that here is really incredible,” said forestry farm manager Tim Sinclair-Smith.
“Some people might not have the opportunities to go and travel and be able to see amazing creatures like this,” he added.
Sinclair-Smith said the pair is already getting settled into the new Komodo Island exhibit, which has been specially outfitted for the dangerous reptile guests.
“You’ve got to be very, very careful with these guys,” Sinclair-Smith explained. “We’ve designed the facility so that (staff) don’t actually have to go inside with the animals.”
Instead, Thorn and Shruikan are trained to go into their crates when it’s time for the space to be maintained. Staff will also be behind a protective barrier for feeding.
Known as the heaviest lizards on earth, Komodo dragons can reach nearly 10 feet in length and weigh more than 330 pounds.
While the creatures are not considered endangered, they are very rare and found in the wild only on Indonesia’s Lesser Sunda Islands.
The new exhibit officially opens to the public on April 1, 2017.