Celebrating Aotearoa New Zealand’s endemic lizards

Did you know that our endemic lizards help to pollinate the flowers and disperse the seeds of native plants?

These are just two of the ways that lizards play a critical role in Aotearoa New Zealand’s ecosystems. Sadly, 92% of our more than 120 lizard species are threatened and at risk of extinction – so it’s essential we take urgent action to conserve and protect them into the future.

Auckland Zoo is highly committed to lizard conservation and among a myriad of lizard projects that our team lend their skills to with a range of partners, there are a few ‘stand outs’ including:

The first five ‘Nationally Critical’ awakōpaka skinks were rescued from extreme predator pressure and brought to the Zoo for husbandry and behavioural research. This is part of a collaborative effort with DOC and mana whenua to safeguard this extremely rare and threatened taonga from extinction.

Find out more about our emergency mahi underway for endemic skink on the brink

Continued our quarterly surveys (since 2016) of the Northern striped gecko in Mahakirau Forest, Coromandel, and collaborated with Otago University to supervise and support an intensive period of natural history research using radio telemetry (the geckos were each fitted with special ‘backpacks’!) to understand more about their habitat preferences and daily movements to inform future conservation efforts. 

Learn more about the exciting study underway for the rare Northern striped gecko!

Our kaimahi are involved in a research and monitoring programme for the Korowai gecko, with Auckland Council, the Department of Conservation and other wildlife experts, to understand more about its distribution and population size. This includes utilising ‘CritterPic’ camera units so when a lizard (or any target species) walks onto a central stage, a photo will be sent to our team so we can understand more about their Muriwai beach habitat.

Find out what we are doing to boost our support for the critically endangered Korowai gecko

Lending our field skills to a new project on the West Coast surveying for the Ōkārito skink, another member of the cryptic speckled skink complex on which we have honed our skills over many years supporting Kapitia and cobble skink research and conservation. Our ectotherm team assisted with establishing and surveying transects (study lines placed at intervals across an area of likely habitat) and placing and checking ACOs (Artificial Cover Objects) in an effort to locate skinks and better understand their distribution.  

Learn about the work we are doing for the Ōkārito skink

By visiting us at the Zoo, you’re helping us to continue this Wild Work and much more!