Experience the Tuatara
(Sphenodon punctatus)

Restoration Visitor Experience Facts

		Tuatara News Jan 2006: tuatara are regularly seen on the bank above Valley View Road.
Tuatara

Because tuatara are free-ranging outside the Research Area, they might be encountered anytime, anywhere. They can be slow to get off a track, so you need to be alert to this possibility and take evasive action to avoid walking on them.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD TUATARA BE PICKED UP. These animals will bite and can inflict a serious wound. DO NOT try and prise the jaws open.
If someone gets bitten, try and position the animal so it is on the ground and can run away – hopefully it will let go and run off. If this doesn’t happen the animal should be supported until it lets go.

It would be helpful if a record could be kept of any sightings – the information sought should include: date, time, location, observer and animal ID (bead combination and/or number written on the Left hand side if still visible). Please forward this information to the Sanctuary. All the animals have been individually marked with a unique combination of beads adjacent to their neck crest. The larger animals may have 3 beads each side, the smallest 1 bead. The beads on each side are a mirror image of the other so you only need to see the beads on one side. To record the colour combination, list the bead colours in order from the outside edge to the inner-most one next to the spine.