Certificate in Reptile Zoology in Wellington

Observing reptiles around Wellington

Tuatara can be seen living free in a mainland valley here, close to a capital city. Zealandia says tuatara have spread throughout its Karori valley since they returned about 25 years ago. The sanctuary also holds the endangered Hamilton's frog, Aotearoa's rarest and largest native frog, which is sometimes seen on night and twilight tours. Camouflaged skinks and geckos often bask beside the tracks during the day. Their colour ranges from olive-green to ochre or burnt orange.

Zealandia points out that New Zealand has more than 120 endemic lizard species, with new ones still being described. Matiu/Somes Island, a predator-free reserve in Wellington Harbour reached by ferry, is another place where tuatara and other native reptiles live without mammalian predators. At Wellington Zoo, The Nest Te Kōhanga once rehabilitated a tuatara with a broken tail over six months. Zealandia notes that lizards act as pollinators, seed dispersers and insect predators, and are prey for native birds and tuatara.