As I crouch down, the plastic bag in my pocket crinkles loudly. The five creatures I am observing suddenly wake from their slumber and several pairs of eager eyes look in my direction, each one apparently questioning: Are you food? I am in little danger, but I stay perfectly still, shocked at such an impressionable first view of these ancient creatures.

About 25 feet (8 m) away lie five Komodo dragons; while they do not breathe fire, they are the largest lizards in the world, and are every bit as fearsome as their mythical namesakes: fierce, inch-long (2.5 cm) claws curled into the dirt, sharp eyes, a long, stocky body with a whip-like tail and a long, forked yellow tongue in a ferocious mouth, dripping saliva.

A dragon rests just meters from potential prey.

While four quickly return to sleep, realizing dinner is not on the menu, one stirs. It pushes up its long, scaly body with its squat, muscular limbs and takes short, lumbering steps toward me. Its leathery skin hangs in folds under its neck and limbs, peeling in large gray flakes.

Its tail sways in turn with its head, as if it is slowly scanning the area; its forked tongue laps the air. Black eyes, ringed by a hint of yellow scales, seem to stare straight through me.

Komodo dragons inhabit just a few small islands in the center of Indonesia, with Komodo Island and Rinca Island having the largest populations, approximately 1,700 and 1,300, respectively. Early morning is the best time to watch the dragons, as once the temperature rises they become lethargic and seek shade, either in the forest or in their burrows.

“Please, this way,” says Silva, our guide, who gently pulls me away from the approaching creature. He stands at my side with a forked stick held out in front of him, our only protection should the Komodo fancy a quick snack.

While Komodo dragons present little danger to humans, the locals are still wary in their presence. A vice-like jaw contains jagged teeth, and their mouths can carry more than 50 different kinds of bacteria. Without treatment, the smallest bite would quickly lead to septicaemia, but deaths are rare. “The last was about 10 years ago, when a ranger went missing. All they found was his watch,” says Silva.

A Komodo dragon’s regular diet consists of deer and wild pig, but it will also feast on water buffalo, wild horses, small lizards and birds, or even its own young. The islands of the Komodo National Park are some of the few habitats where lizards, and not mammals, are top of the food chain.

As Silva guides us away from the rangers’ station, he shows us several false tunnel entrances into an underground Komodo nest made by the mother to confuse other dragons that are keen to enter for an easy meal. Once hatched, the baby dragons scurry into the trees for their first year of life, to avoid the cannibalistic jaws of their relatives. Only when they are large enough to hunt — at around 29 inches (.75 m) long — will they descend to the forest floor.