It's an established fact: not one of us here in the Earth Touch office can resist the potent combination of animals and GoPro cameras (the evidence: GoPros and prairie dogs, pelicans, crabs, foxes, squirrels, sharks ... we really could go on). Our latest find? A GoPro and a Komodo dragon (a.k.a the world's most ginormous lizard). 

The GoPro-wearing Komodo in question goes by the name of Sunny and resides at the San Diego Zoo in California. Staff at the zoo recently put the 14-year-old dragon through his paces in a series of training exercises: by enticing him with fishy treats, keepers set out to teach Sunny to walk/run over to them on command.

According to the zoo's blog:

This type of target training is extremely beneficial for the animal’s welfare. As Komodo dragons spend most of their time resting in the sun, the training provides and encourages exercise for Sunny throughout the day. Another benefit is that once the behavior is learned, keepers can ask Sunny to move or shift into a different area of the exhibit. This will be helpful if medical attention is needed, since Sunny could voluntarily move without the need for sedation. 

But why the GoPro, you ask (aside from the obvious office diversion it provides all of us with)? Sunny's POV is helpful to his keepers, and the footage also allows them to review the training sessions. 

Since Earth Touch has actually filmed Komodos on their home turf in Indonesia (they can be bad-tempered bunch, we'll tell ya), we'd personally prefer to avoid Komodo target training of any description ... but it looks like Sunny took things in his stride quite happily.

Top header image: San Diego Zoo, Facebook