gryphonvert
Karori Nature Reserve - Tuatara!!!
Within the predator-proof fence of Karori is another fenced area, which provides a tuatara reserve that is safe from weka (a native flightless bird). This is, I believe, the only mainland population of tuatara (although you can't really call it "in the wild" as such). The 4-foot high fence has numbers written on it even meter or so, and there are whiteboards located at both ends of it where people write down the number at which they spotted a tuatara, and the time, if they are lucky enough to do so.
It so happened that Stephen and I arrived only 15 minutes after a tuatara had been spotted close-by -- and it was still there when we got there! If you zoom in on this pic, you can see the tuatara right in the center. Not very big, maybe 1.5 feet long.
Tuatara are special because they are native to New Zealand, and they are not, despite appearence, lizards. They belong to an older, dinosaur-era family that is a precursor to lizards and snakes.
Karori Nature Reserve - Tuatara!!!
Within the predator-proof fence of Karori is another fenced area, which provides a tuatara reserve that is safe from weka (a native flightless bird). This is, I believe, the only mainland population of tuatara (although you can't really call it "in the wild" as such). The 4-foot high fence has numbers written on it even meter or so, and there are whiteboards located at both ends of it where people write down the number at which they spotted a tuatara, and the time, if they are lucky enough to do so.
It so happened that Stephen and I arrived only 15 minutes after a tuatara had been spotted close-by -- and it was still there when we got there! If you zoom in on this pic, you can see the tuatara right in the center. Not very big, maybe 1.5 feet long.
Tuatara are special because they are native to New Zealand, and they are not, despite appearence, lizards. They belong to an older, dinosaur-era family that is a precursor to lizards and snakes.