normally there's at least one out. This is by far the best-looking tuatara display in NZ and probably the world. They also have very good breeding success. Tuatara usually bask at the entrance to their burrows during all or part of the day (except in winter when they spend most of their time inside the burrows) so are usually fairly easy to see. There is actually a small one in the photo above, on the very far right, but even on the large size photo its really just a little greenish blotch. Its a Brothers Island tuatara. The other enclosures are for common tuatara. Henry's enclosure is the one in the midle (you can see his name at the top of the glass). The museum doesn't allow the use of flash so none of the photos of the tuatara themselves turn out very well. Same goes for the tuatara where I work -- I see them all the time but have no good photos of them! In fact the only halfway decent tuatara photos I've got are of wild ones (again, without flash but in the daylight so easier to do).
You must give me directions to this wonderful space when I get to NZ. I have been to tuatara exhibits at both Chester and Berlin but have never ever seen them out of their burrows. The exhibit you captured seems also different with lots of lush veg.
Invercargill is right at the bottom of the South Island. Just give me a pm when you're coming to NZ and I'll help you out with the best localities for whatever you are after.
What a joy to see this kind of herp exhibit! Such a difference between one or two fantastic enclosures and a sad line of fifty or sixty horrible little glass tanks.Quality, not quantity.
