Komodo dragon eats shoe thrown into enclosure, TN zoo says. Then came surgery

Someone tossed a shoe at a Komodo dragon in the Memphis Zoo, and the giant lizard swallowed it whole, officials say.

The Croc sailed over a glass partition on May 15 into the Dragon’s Lair display, according to Memphis Zoo officials.

“Being curious, one of our Komodo dragons approached the shoe and ingested it,” the zoo wrote in a Facebook post.

“Thanks to a guest who spoke up, our expert animal care and veterinary teams acted quickly to safely immobilize the dragon and transport it to our animal hospital, where the shoe was successfully removed.”

A photo with the post shows the shoe was bigger than the dragon’s head, indicating it was not an easy thing to swallow.

Still, “Ophelia” is expected to recover, officials said.

The incident prompted outrage on social media, with nearly 8,000 reactions and comments as of May 16. Among them were a few who suggested it may not have been intentional, but most weren’t having it.

“That makes me so mad,” Brandi Adele Carter wrote on the zoo’s Facebook page. “I can’t believe people do stuff like this ... a freaking Croc. ... The poor komodo dragon could have died.”

The Dragon’s Lair is home to three Komodos, which are native to five small islands in Indonesia, the zoo says. The lizards reach 10 feet and 200 pounds, making them “the largest and heaviest living lizard,” officials said.

“The bite of a Komodo dragon is quite dangerous, and in most cases, deadly,” the zoo reports.

“Their saliva contains several strains of bacteria. In the wild, over 23 documented species of bacteria have been found. In captivity, only about 10 of those have been recorded. They also have a venom gland, which, when bitten, prevents the prey’s blood from clotting.”

This story was originally published May 16, 2025 at 2:44 PM with the headline "Komodo dragon eats shoe thrown into enclosure, TN zoo says. Then came surgery."