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.
