200 Year First at Wellington Visitor Attraction Reinforces ZEALANDIA Vision

Staff at ZEALANDIA: The Karori Sanctuary Experience today found what is almost certainly the first confirmed baby tuatara to have hatched in the wild on mainland New Zealand in over 200 years.

Positively Wellington Tourism Chief Executive David Perks says the exciting news reinforces the vision behind the recent rebrand of the sanctuary’s visitor experience.

“This is what the story of ZEALANDIA is all about – the rebirth of a long lost land; a 500-year vision to regenerate a piece of New Zealand to what it was before humans arrived and share it with the world.”

The discovery came during routine maintenance work, when conservation officer Bernard Smith found the 8cm-long hatchling in an area where nests had been discovered. The animal is thought to be around one month old and is likely to have hatched from eggs laid around 16 months ago.

“This discovery is nothing short of incredible,” Mr Perks says. “Where else in the world could you see the first wild birth of a ‘living fossil’ on the mainland for at least 200 years just minutes’ away from the centre of a capital city?!”

Tuatara are thought to have been extinct as a breeding population on the three main islands of New Zealand for around 200 years. They were wiped out primarily by the kiore (Pacific rat) which arrived with the first Polynesian settlers around 700 years ago.

In 2005, 70 animals were transferred to the groundbreaking Wellington sanctuary from one of their last offshore island refuges - Takapourewa/Stephens Island in Cook Strait. A further 130 animals were transferred two years later.

“ZEALANDIA offers the opportunity to be part of something incredibly unique and special. It is an absolute must-visit for every New Zealander and every visitor to New Zealand.”