Today I was able to visit Koru Native Wildlife Centre. It is a small facility that is open only by appointment and is dedicated to the breeding of a small number of native land animals. The animals that are currently held there are Yellow-crowned Kakariki, a range of native lizards, and Stephens Island Weta.
The Yellow-crowned Kakariki and Stephens Island Weta are both kept in large numbers at Koru, whereas the lizards are seemingly kept in quite small numbers for each taxa.
Koru has been very successful at breeding Yellow-crowned Kakariki. They currently have at least two female Kakariki that are incubating eggs, and there are currently some juveniles being kept there as well. Only the breeding pairs will remain at Koru, however. Later this year, the young birds will be transported to the North Island and released into the wild at Mt. Bruce, as has happened before.
Until recently, the only native lizards kept by Koru were those that are native to the South Island. Koru now also has lizards that are native to the North Island, as a local herpetologist was unable to continue to keep his lizards, so they ended up going to Koru. The native places of all of these lizards were not clarified to Koru, however. This means that Koru now keeps multiple native lizards whose exact taxonomic identity has yet to be ascertained. This includes two baby Naultinus geckos that apparently do not yet have an exact identification. A list of the lizard taxa that Koru definitely keeps will follow below. I failed to grasp whether Koru currently keeps both skinks and geckos; I saw only geckos.
The following is a list of the live animals that are definitely held by Koru. Species that I did not personally see are denoted with an asterisk.
BIRD
-Yellow-crowned Kakariki
REPTILES
-Elegant Gecko (Auckland Green Gecko) (Naultinus elegans)
-Barking Gecko (Wellington Green Gecko) (Naultinus punctatus)
-Marlborough Green Gecko (Naultinus manukanus)
-Starred Gecko (Naultinus stellatus)
-Goldstripe Gecko (Woodworthia chrysosiretica)
-"South Island" Forest Gecko (Mokopirirakau granulatus, but might also refer to a different Mokopirirakau species)*
INVERTEBRATE
-Stephens Island Weta (Deinacrida rugosa)
The Yellow-crowned Kakariki and Stephens Island Weta are both kept in large numbers at Koru, whereas the lizards are seemingly kept in quite small numbers for each taxa.
Koru has been very successful at breeding Yellow-crowned Kakariki. They currently have at least two female Kakariki that are incubating eggs, and there are currently some juveniles being kept there as well. Only the breeding pairs will remain at Koru, however. Later this year, the young birds will be transported to the North Island and released into the wild at Mt. Bruce, as has happened before.
Until recently, the only native lizards kept by Koru were those that are native to the South Island. Koru now also has lizards that are native to the North Island, as a local herpetologist was unable to continue to keep his lizards, so they ended up going to Koru. The native places of all of these lizards were not clarified to Koru, however. This means that Koru now keeps multiple native lizards whose exact taxonomic identity has yet to be ascertained. This includes two baby Naultinus geckos that apparently do not yet have an exact identification. A list of the lizard taxa that Koru definitely keeps will follow below. I failed to grasp whether Koru currently keeps both skinks and geckos; I saw only geckos.
The following is a list of the live animals that are definitely held by Koru. Species that I did not personally see are denoted with an asterisk.
BIRD
-Yellow-crowned Kakariki
REPTILES
-Elegant Gecko (Auckland Green Gecko) (Naultinus elegans)
-Barking Gecko (Wellington Green Gecko) (Naultinus punctatus)
-Marlborough Green Gecko (Naultinus manukanus)
-Starred Gecko (Naultinus stellatus)
-Goldstripe Gecko (Woodworthia chrysosiretica)
-"South Island" Forest Gecko (Mokopirirakau granulatus, but might also refer to a different Mokopirirakau species)*
INVERTEBRATE
-Stephens Island Weta (Deinacrida rugosa)