CHESTER Zoo’s Komodo Dragon Flora – famous for a “virgin birth” – has done it again.

Having never had the company of a male dragon, Flora hit the headlines when, undeterred, she reproduced without ever having come close to one of her own kind.

And, once again, Flora has proved no mate means no problem with the arrival of another Komodo Dragon hatchling.

According to Chester Zoo, Flora is now the first Komodo Dragon in the world to twice reproduce through a process known as parthenogenesis – where eggs develop without being fertilised by sperm.

Originally “mum” to seven Komodo hatchlings, Flora has welcomed another new, unnamed male, to the fold.

Kevin Buley, Chester Zoo’s head of zoo programmes, said: “The absence of a strong male partner really doesn’t seem to trouble Flora. Flora remains determined to do her own sweet thing with fantastic results.”

When Flora laid her first clutch of eggs in May, 2006, they were put in an incubator where three of them collapsed after only a couple of weeks.

When they were opened, however, staff found that they contained embryos – showing that they were fertile.

Scientists at Liverpool University, under the guidance of Dr Phil Watts, carried out genetic fingerprinting on the three eggs and on the adult Komodo dragons at the zoo.

This “paternity” testing proved Flora was indeed both the “mother” and the “father” of the fertile eggs.

The incubation period for Komodo eggs is between seven and nine months. Komodo Dragon hatchlings measure 40-45 centimetres in length and weigh 100-125grams.

Currently black and yellow, the new male will eventually lose his bright colouring as he grows.

It is believed there are fewer than 4,000 Komodo dragons left in the world, living on only three islands in Indonesia which they swim between.

While not poisonous, their saliva contains a host of deadly bacteria. In the wild, they ambush and bite their prey and then track it for up to two days until it dies of blood poisoning.

Flora’s solitary existence, however, is going to be short-lived, and in a few months’ time she will finally get to cosy-up with dragon Norman who has made his home at Chester.

Mr Buley said: “We’re pretty confident we’ve found the ideal dragon for Flora. He’s everything a dragon should be and has already taken a shine to Flora’s sister, Nessie.

“With any luck, Flora and Norman will follow suit and hit it off on their first date.”

Flora and Nessie are part of a European zoo breeding programme to help protect this threatened species, and can be seen in Chester Zoo’s Islands in Danger exhibit which was opened by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.

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