The Region - News from Jan. 1, 1987

Sweetheart, the last Komodo dragon in the United States, apparently is destined never to become a mother, according to disappointed officials of the San Diego Zoo. The 18-year-old, 55-pound lizard had been implanted with an experimental device that zoologists hoped would promote ovulation, after which she would have been impregnated with preserved semen taken from a male Komodo before his death in January, 1986. Although Sweetheart and the male were together 10 years, they never mated. John A. Phillips, the zoological physiologist in charge of the implant experiment, said Sweetheart showed no significant increase in her hormone level, probably because of her advanced age.