Although each region of the country has its own faunal emblems, the one considered the National animal of Indonesia is the Komodo Dragon. Today we are going to tell you all about the different animal symbols of Indonesia and specially all about this unique animal.
The 3 national faunal emblems of Indonesia
Indonesia is considered one of the 10 countries with a higher biodiversity rate in the world, which means you will find all types of animals all over the country. Nowadays, there are just 3 animals that are considered a symbol for the country:
1) National bird of Indonesia
The national rare animal and the national bird of Indonesia is the Javan hawk-eagle. This endemic animal from the mountain forest region of Java is also named as Elang Jawa or Garuda.
The easiest way to recognize this animal is because of its crest on the top of his head. Since is now the national bird of the country, they have started to protect it way more from hunters.
2) National fish of Indonesia
This animal is not only the national fish, it´s also the national animal of charm. We are talking about the Asian Arowana, which is known for its colors, it can be red, yellow and white.
The Asian Arowana are endemic animals from the wildest area of the country: Sumatra and Borneo. As it happens with the hawk, this fish is also much more protected.
3) The Komodo dragons
Last of all, the most representative animal of Indonesia is the Komodo dragon, but…Why is the Komodo dragon the national animal of Indonesia?
The main reason is because it´s an ancient animal that has the quality of being the largest surviving lizard on earth, plus, Indonesia is the only country where they are still alive, being more concrete you will only see them in Komodo, Padar and Rinca island (The three of them are part of Komodo National Park).
Other Indonesian national animals
The three animals we have mentioned are the only ones considered national animals, but as we said each region has its own symbolic animals.
We are not going to say the complete list as there are more than 30 provinces in Indonesia, but some of these regional animals are the Sumatran Tiger in Jambi, the Javan Leopard in West Java or the famous Proboscis monkey in South Kalimantan.
Protect Indonesia´s national animal!
Indonesia is a country that works hard on protecting its national animal, but the truth is that Komodo Island receives many tourists every year. Since it´s the only place on earth where you can find the Komodo Dragon, we are going to ask you to please be respectful if you ever go to this place.
