Kenny Long, age 14, of Indianapolis, Ind., for his question:

 What is a Komodo dragon?

We tend to think that all the sizeable animals on earth have been named and classified. Then we get a surprise. Science has discovered two quite large animals in this century. One was the okapi, large as a small horse. He was discovered hiding in the dense thickets of the African Jungles. The other was the Komodo dragon, a ten foot lizard. He was discovered hiding on a few small islands of Indonesia.

The Isles of Kornodo, Padar, Kintja and Flores are mere specks on the map between Borneo and Australia. Fossil remains of the big lizards prove that they once lived in North America. This wad sixty million years ago, which means that they were here to witness the decline of their giant cousins, the dinosaurs. Something, maybe change in climate, forced them to retreat from the continents. For countless ages they have lived in those small Pacific isles which are their last strongholds.

These islands are warm and rather barren. There are bare rocks, tall, tough grasses and a few lovely pine trees. The ten foot lizard is a brownish grey color which blends into the background.

The dragon shared his island homes with a few natives. The small isles had little to offer the modern world and hence were not on any regular trading route. Visits were few and far between. No white visitor knew of the big lizards until 1912. In that year a Dutchman named Ouwens captured, with the help of natives, five big dragons and brought them home. The world of science was agog.

Here was a newly found lizard, bigger than any lizard known to exist. He was an agile fellow and his long body was quite snakelike. What's mores he had a long, darting snaky tongue. Ho had a long tapering tail and a huge tapering head. The dragon from Komodo was promptly classed as a monitor type lizard. And, of course, he is the largest lizard to survive the tragic fate of the dinosaurs.

Science needed to know more of the big fellow. It needed to know how the so‑called dragon had survived on his remote islands, The only way to satisfy this wonderful curiosity was to go there and see. The first party to study the big lizard at home arrived in the year 1926.

The giant of the lizard clan prefers to keep out of sight. Squatting in the sun, running over the bare rocks or hiding in the long grass he is hard to spot. The men set up a blind and put out soma dead pigs as bait. They waited.

Soon a number of the big fellows came forward. Tongues darted out to catch the scent. A few monsters raised their big bodies to view the scenery. Then they pounced on the bait. Little did they dream that a camera was taking moving pictures of the banquet.

In a zoo, the Komodo dragon is a docile fellow. He is fond of meat and eggs. A few babies have been born in captivity. The little dragons wear yellow garters on their tails and yellow spots and circles on their bodies. These markings fade before they become adult dragons. And, of course, they are dragons in name only.