A TOURIST who refused to pay for a tour guide was mauled by a fearsome Komodo dragon in Indonesia.

Lon Lee Alle, 50, from Singapore, ventured alone into a secluded area to watch the wild beasts gorging on goats and pigs in West Manggarai, Indonesia, The Sun reports.

He is said to have ignored warnings not to get too close to the prehistoric looking creatures and crept up on one to take pictures.

But one of the Komodo dragons — believed to have been about 2.5m — clearly thought it was dinner time and pounced.

Shocked onlookers dragged him to safety yesterday at about 8am local time.

Horrific pictures taken by a tour guide show blood pouring from the wound on Mr Alle’s leg as he is wheeled away to receive stitches at the Komodo National Park.

Officials said Mr Alle had wandered around the island on his own because he wanted to save money instead of paying for a tour guide.

“This was a pretty silly thing to do. You should be very careful near wildlife, particularly Komodo dragons,” Captain Rama Hasan said.

“The man was in pain. He was lucky there were people around to help him, or it could have been much worse.”

Komodo National Park boss Sudiyono said the large lizards aren’t known to attack tourists out of the blue.

“He must have been too close. A Komodo doesn’t like to be disturbed when eating,” he said.

“This is the first incident of human being bitten by a Komodo dragon in the past five years.”

Mr Alle was treated on the island before being transferred by boat to the Siloam General Hospital.

Komodo dragons are the world’s largest lizard and have thrived in a harsh part of Indonesia for millions of years.

These prehistoric creatures are related to snakes and will eat almost anything they find from deer, pigs, water buffalo. Dragons can consume an astonishing 80 per cent of their body weight in a single meal.

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was republished with permission.