March 05, 2015
Hauturu tuatara numbers growing
The tuatara population on Te Hauturu-o-Toi/Little Barrier Island is on the increase.
Conservation Minister Maggie Barry says this breeding season rangers have found 19 eggs on the island, which came back to Ngati Manuhiri as part of its treaty settlement and was then gifted back to the people of New Zealand.
Since the island was declared pest-free in 2006, the number of tuatara living in the wild has grown from eight to 300.
The nine kakapo released on the island since 2012 have also begun breeding.
The island is home to the only self-sustaining population of hihi (stitchbirds), twelve species of geckos and skinks, tieke (saddleback) and wetapunga (giant weta).
There are also 400 native plant species, including 34 that are nationally or regionally threatened.
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