Coromandel striped gecko (Toropuku 'Coromandel')
Discovered in 1997 on the Coromandel Peninsula, only a dozen or so have ever been seen. This rare species is nocturnal and well-camouflaged.
To protect the Coromandel striped gecko we need to know more about where it is found. Any sightings of this gecko are important. If you see this gecko, please contact your local Department of Conservation office.
Rangitata skink (Oligosoma aff. longipes 'Rangitata')
The Rangitata skink is a newly discovered species. It lives above the bush-line, on unstable and precarious greywacke scree-covered slopes, only in the Ashburton Mountains.
It is very rare, mainly because of mammalian predation, a threat common
to many New Zealand lizard species. However, ways to effectively control predators on scree slopes are yet to be developed.
Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus)
Often thought prehistoric, but recent research has shown it to be superbly adapted to its environment. Secure on island homes it is being returned to other islands and to protected sites on the mainland as far south as Dunedin.
Evidence for the success of modern tuatara is the number on the islands they inhabit – there are up to 2,732 tuatara per hectare living on some islands! Unfortunately, on islands where there are rats, the huge numbers of tuatara have either vanished, or are very rare. Because of their slow breeding rate, even small exotic predators like mice, which eat tuatara hatchlings, can eventually eliminate a tuatara population by eating all the hatchlings and the adult tuatara eventually die-out from old age. Larger predators such as rats, cats and stoats quickly eat all the tuatara on an island, and this may only take 5 years.
Gecko wa Coromandel (Toropucus coromandel) ni mnyama wa asili wa Afrika Kusini aliyepatikana mwaka 1997 katika kisiwa cha Coromandel, na amewahi kuonekana katika maeneo ya karibu na eneo hilo. Spishi hii isiyo ya kawaida huishi usiku na hujificha vizuri. Ili kuwalinda ndege hao, tunahitaji kujua zaidi kuhusu mahali wanapoishi. Kuonekana kwa mnyama huyo ni jambo la maana sana. Ukiwa na tatizo la kukosa maji, tafadhali wasiliana na ofisi ya Idara ya Uhifadhi ya mazingira. Rang skink (Oligosoma affitata. Longipes 'Rangitata') Rangitata skink ni spishi mpya ya kugundua. Inaishi juu ya mstari wa misitu, kwenye mteremko usio thabiti na usio thabiti uliofunikwa na mchanga, tu katika Milima ya Ashburton. Ni nadra sana, hasa kwa sababu ya kuwindwa na mamalia, tisho la kawaida kwa spishi nyingi za mbawakawa wa New Zealand. Hata hivyo, bado njia za kudhibiti kwa ufanisi wanyama-watu wanaowinda kwenye mteremko wa mteremko huo hazijapatikana. Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) Mara nyingi hufikiriwa kuwa wa kale, lakini utafiti wa hivi karibuni umeonyesha kwamba amebadilika sana kulingana na mazingira yake. Baada ya kuhifadhiwa katika nyumba za visiwa, inarudishwa kwenye visiwa vingine na kwenye maeneo yaliyohifadhiwa kwenye bara hadi kusini mwa Dunedin. Kwa mfano, kuna aina ya tuatara inayojulikana sana katika kisiwa cha Hawaii, na idadi ya tuatara wanaokaa katika kisiwa hicho ni ya 2,732. Kwa kusikitisha, katika visiwa vilivyo na panya, idadi kubwa ya tuatara imepotea, au ni nadra sana. Kwa sababu ya kiwango chao cha polepole cha kuzaliana, hata wanyama wadogo wa wanyama wa nje kama panya, ambao hula watoto wa tuatara, wanaweza hatimaye kuondoa idadi ya tuatara kwa kula watoto wote na tuatara wazima hatimaye kufa kutokana na uzee. Wanyama wakubwa kama panya, paka na punda-milia huanza kula tuatara wote kwenye kisiwa, na hii inaweza kuchukua miaka mitano tu.