http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=8&u=/nm/20040823/od_nm/zoo_dc
Rare Komodo Dragon Dies in Zoo Love Plunge
Mon Aug 23,10:13 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Love could not conquer all for a rare, 10-year-old Komodo Dragon who plunged to her death at London Zoo after she scaled a dividing wall to reach her mate.
Six-foot-long Nina died from internal bleeding after she fell trying to reach Raja, who is still in good health and on display, a zoo spokesman said on Saturday.
"Immediate measures have been put in place to prevent a similar incident happening and we are carrying out a thorough investigation into what occurred," London Zoo's curator David Field said in a statement.
The Komodo Dragon is the largest flesh-eating lizard in the world and is found in the wild on only four small Indonesian islands. They number about 5,000 worldwide.
Nina arrived at the zoo last month and staff hoped she and Raja would mate and become a major attraction.
The dragons were being held in adjacent cages separated by an 8-foot-high wall with a gap at the top so they could gradually become accustomed to each other.
