In March, the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry announced it had broken up a smuggling ring that had taken 41 Komodo dragons from the island where they were sold overseas for upwards of $35,000 US, CNN reports.
Indonesia's famous Komodo island (home of the Komodo dragon) will likely close to tourists after cops busted a ring of lizard smugglers last month.
Komodo Island is part of the Komodo national park, which also includes two other large land masses, and many smaller islands.
Police said the suspects had sold Komodos through Facebook and had already sold more than 41 of them.
Officials did not announce when Komodo Island would be open to the public again. Researchers believe the lizards have easily been around for millions of years, surviving through the harsh climates spanning Indonesia's island landscape. There are only around 6,000 of these lizards in the world, all of which are in Komodo National Park, according to estimates from the World Animal Foundation.
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Officials made a decision to temporarily close the island due to its ongoing dragon smuggling dilemma.
Discussions about closing the island have been going on since at least January, when the East Nusa Tenggara governor Viktor Bungtilu Laiskodat suggested the park may remain closed for a year to increase the population of Komodo dragons and deer, which it eats.
In fact, Kao reports that developers are hoping to turn the remote town of Labuan Bajo into the next Bali, with trips to visit the dragons as one of the star attractions.
Agus, one of the forest guides in Komodo National Park, tells Kao he looks at the coming flood of visitors with anxiety.
During the closure, conservationists will examine the lizards' food supply, work on preserving endemic plant species, and survey the natural environment.
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