Hey you! Yeah, you over there! You wanna go to Dragon Island?! Cool! Well, you can if you have $1,000 handy. That’s right. It’ll only cost you $1,000 to see the world’s biggest lizard, the Komodoo dragon.

Now, I know there are those of you who visit Dragon Island on a regular basis and are wondering why you have to pay 100 times the amount you had to pay before.

There’s a good reason for this. According to Governor Viktor Bungtilu , whose jurisdiction Dragon Island falls under, the cost to see the magnificent Komodo has gone up from $10 to $1,000 because y’all tourists are the primary reason as to why the Komodos are making fewer Komodo babies.

Here’s how the governor would more than likely rationalize this:

    “Over a 10-year period from 2008 to 2018, the number of visitors
     to Dragon Island have increased from 44,000 to 176,000. This
     increase has caused the Komodos to become nervous. And as a
     result of their nervousness, the Komodos have stopped mating;
     which has decrease the Komodos’ population. This decrease in the
     Komodo population impacts the circle of life, causing a ripple
     effect throughout the eco-system. Therefore, in doing our part to
     maintain the balance in the circle of life, we’re charging tourists,
     who are mainly Westerners, $1,000. The $1,000 covers a yearly
     membership, which can also be paid in one lump sum or four
     payments of $250 every three months. They can afford it. They
     are Westerners.”

Hahaha, it’s funny because it’s very close to what he said to the BBC: “People will have to become members and pay $1,000 [£790] to enter for a year. I think that’s cheap.”

This dude thinks Westerners paying $1,000 is cheap. Sure, one Indonesian Rupiah is equal to $0.000071 American dollar while one Indonesian Rupiah is equal to $0.000054 pound sterling. But, that visit will still take $1,000 out of Americans’ pockets just to see an animal who may decide to take them out.

And let’s not even talk about the cost of plane, hotel, food, shots, passports, cars, clothes, and incidentals. When you add in all of the other expenses, a thousand dollars to see a lizard you can see on Animal Planet for free isn’t cheap.

And I’m quite sure it’s not cheap for the Brits, either, who will have to pay £790. It’s obvious that this dude, Governor Bungtilu, is trying to use Dragon Island like it’s Busch Gardens.

And I for one say we should not pay the “cheap” price of $1,000 for a yearly membership just to see a poisonous lizard that we can safely see on Animal Planet from the comfort of our homes, or down there in Tampa, Florida, at Busch Gardens.

God, I do miss Steve Irwin.