Show FAMOUS washington ZOO DRAGON IS DEAD twelve foot long lizard was waa favorite of children washington koko the twentieth century dragon is dead gone is the living proof of capital children that great scaly monsters with sabre like tongues did once upon a time scare beautiful princesses in n ancient castles to the scientific world koko was the comodo lizard he was twelve feet long and he was said to be the only living on one e of his kind in america his teeth were as sharp as razor blades and his scales were almost as big and tough as chunks of armor his hia tall tail was five feet long and those who knew said he could cut off a mans leg with one vicious swipe his nostrils were fierce and wide and many a washington schoolboy aits his nose pressed against the great lizards glass cage wore swore he saw koko snort sparks koko came to the zoo from faraway comodo island in the malay archipelago between and flores the 35 mile long island named after the huge lizards is the only place in the world where they are re said to live the reptile arrived at the zoo almost two years ago shipped in a 15 foot cage of stout walnut it took six men three hours to transfer him to hla his glass cage his first meal was wag t three h r e e dozen eggs and live five pounds of raw beef he was the image of the prehistoric monster as he moved his ponderous body about the sand and rocks children came from every local schoolhouse to see the zoos biggest attraction and then koko got sick me he eat he lost weight for the last six months officials knew he was dying but the kids up to the last day they came and pressed their noses against the glass and in wide eyed wonder recounted all those fairy tales |