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Survey Marks 10 Years of Tuatara on the Mainland
Survey Marks 10 Years of Tuatara on the Mainland
Wellington, NZ -
Ten years after tuatara were released at ZEALANDIA
Ecosanctuary they're being handled again, this time to check
the overall size and health of the population.
In a joint project by Victoria University of Wellington and ZEALANDIA, researchers will spend the next three days searching release sites, known burrows, and other sites to weigh and measure the endemic reptiles.
"We know they're breeding in the sanctuary, but as they are completely wild we have no way of knowing how many there are," said ZEALANDIA Conservation Manager Raewyn Empson. "It will be great to get an indication of how they're doing."
70 tuatara were
transferred from Stephens Island to ZEALANDIA in 2005 thanks
to kaitiaki (tribal guardians) Ngatāi Kōata, making it the
first wild population of tuatara on mainland New Zealand in
over 200 years. Another 130 were released in 2007.
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