BBC cameraman on Planet Earth II finds Komodo dragon in hotel bathroom
Everyone at Aol Travel is super-excited about the new BBC programme Planet Earth II, but it looks like they went through some hairy experiences while filming - including finding a Komodo dragon in their hotel bathroom.
BBC cameraman Mark MacEwen, working on the new David Attenborough series, had been filming Komodo dragons all day, and was shocked to see one back at his hotel in Indonesia, reports the Independent.
See also: Woman in kimono races Komodo dragon - but who wins?
See also: World's strangest animals
The footage was uploaded to YouTube by BBC Earth Unplugged.
He can be heard saying on the video: "We've just got back to where we store our kit and there is a dragon in the bathroom.
"It's not quite what you expect to find when you go to the toilet."
But how do you get a Komodo dragon out of your bathroom? Exactly what Mark wonders when he says: "The next problem we've got is how to get a dragon out of a toilet. He looks quite comfortable."
According to the Daily Mail, the local guides managed to coax the lizard out with a large chunk of meat on a stick.
After being drawn out of the bathroom, the dragon tried to hide under the bed, with MacEwen adding: "That's what they mean when they talk about a monster under the bed."
The creature eventually came out, but the dragon didn't leave quietly - leaving a nice present on the floor on the way out. The crew let out a collectively disgusted "Oh god", before Mark exclaims: "Dragon poo!".
Komodo dragons are a large species of lizard found in the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang, and Padar. A member of the monitor lizard family, it is the largest living species of lizard, growing to a maximum length of three metres (10ft).
The diet of big Komodo dragons, which have a venomous bite, mainly consists of deer, though they also eat considerable amounts of carrion. Their group hunting behaviour has been documented on camera, and they have been filmed hunting and eating a cow over a number of days. They have also been known to eat horses, water buffalo and pigs.
According to Wikipedia, they occasionally attack and bite humans. Sometimes they consume human corpses, digging up bodies from shallow graves. This habit of raiding graves caused the villagers of Komodo to move their graves from sandy to clay ground and pile rocks on top of them to deter the lizards.
The first episode of the Planet Earth II series airs on Sunday at 8pm on BBC1.
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