Lizards let loose

A dozen native Otago skinks are sunning themselves in a purpose-built enclosure near Alexandra after being released into the wild on Saturday.

The Department of Conservation, local iwi and community members were involved in the release of skinks into the newly-completed Mokomoko Dryland Sanctuary.

The Central Otago Ecological Trust (COET) worked with Doc to save the Otago skink from extinction by breeding them in captivity, hand-rearing them at Alexandra and in the North Island, and finally releasing them into their new predator-proof habitat within the Aldinga Conservation Area.

COET chairman and wildlife ecologist Grant Norbury said 30 years ago the skinks existed in Alexandra, although now they were confined to 8% of their former range and were extinct from the Alexandra basin.

"Without human intervention it's predicted they will be extinct in the wild in 10-20 years, which makes the conservation work that the trust and Doc does really urgent," he said.

The trust aims to construct a herbivore-proof fence next to the predator-proof Mokomoko enclosure, to increase the skink's native habitat with weeding and native planting.

"This release of captive-bred skinks is a first in New Zealand so it's very much a trial for the trust, and if successful the trust will go on to introduce wild-born skinks into the area at a later date with the aim of improving the genetic base of the re-established population," Mr Norbury said.