KCC Wild Things 155 Winter 2022

iW ld

Takurua/Winter 2022 |

ISSUE 155

Things

Reptiles and Amphibians A LAND BEFORE TIME SERIES For Forest & Bird’s young conservationists

Inside:

> Collect your

second set of Wild Cardz!

Tuatara, mokomoko | lizards, and pepeketua | frogs

1

2

3

4

5

3

4

5

Impacted by pests: 1

2

Number of babies in

Lifespan: 6 years

6

a year: 15

Close ancestors have been on Earth for at least 130 million years. They are

breathe through their skin, and they have little claws.

nocturnal, they

Find new Wild Cardz on pages 11 and 19.

For game play, go to kcc.org.nz/ activities.

are an extraordinary part of Aotearoa’s biodiversity – and that’s saying something!

Biodiversity is the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms found in nature, and New Zealand is a world-famous biodiversity hotspot!

Ngāokeoke | Velvet wor m| Peripatus

Rarity: 3 (vulnerable)

Dylan Van Winkel

Did you. know..

About 16–19 million years ago, Zealandia was home to two species of crocodile and a large extinct freshwater turtle too?

As we discovered last issue, it’s all due to Zealandia – our continent – breaking away and isolating us, plus our geography (the physical features of our country) and our climate (the long-term weather patterns).

These things have meant that really unique animals have developed here over millions of years.

Didn’t get our last issue?

Read more about Zealandia on our website kcc.org.nz.

EDITOR: ART DIRECTOR/DESIGN: PRINTING: :REVOC

Rebecca Hatch

Rob Di Leva, Dileva Design Webstar, Auckland • ISN 230-56 Barking gecko

2 Wild Things

Rod Morris

Sabine Bernert; Illustration: Zoe Brown

To join KCC and receive Wild Things, or to receive our free E-news, go to www.kcc.org.nz.

Wild Things is published by Forest & Bird, Phone 04 385 7374, Email office@forestandbird.org.nz PO Box 631, Wellington 6140.

Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the written permission of Forest & Bird.

© Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

Discover what makes our reptiles and amphibians so ancient and special, and how you can help them.

Not always a dinosaur...

“Dinosaur” is a scientific term, so it can’t be used for just anything extinct, large, bizarre, or scaly! Here’s a tip to start telling our prehistoric reptiles apart – look at how they got around…

Dinosaurs

They ruled the land.

They used walking as their main way to get around AND they all walked on upright legs, whether on two or all four of them.

FACT:

Reptiles that walked with sprawled legs were NOT dinosaurs.

'

They ruled the waters.

They used swimming as their main way to get around.

Issue 15,5 a M y 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

Marine reptiles

iW ld Things

Close cousins but not dinosaurs…

Flying reptiles

They ruled the skies.

They used flying as their main way to get around.

3

Ancient Reptiles of In 2010, NZ Post Collectables celebrated five of our incredible extinct reptiles with a series of stamps. Which have you heard of before?

These species thrived in Zealandia for 20 million years but disappeared from our continent 65 million years ago as the environment changed and conditions weren’t right for them anymore.

Allosaurus n n

n

Largest meat eater on land at 12m long.

Top of the food chain. Hunted in packs like lions do today.

Could open its jaws extremely widely, meaning it could attack large prey.

Anhanguera n n n n n

Our most common type of pterosaur.

Wingspan of five metres.

Could fly from birth!

Fish eater.

Lived in large coastal nesting colonies like seabirds do today. Laid leathery eggs.

n

n n n

4 Wild Things

Last descendant of the giant sauropods; small for being a member of this family as it was only 14m long.

Weighed about 13 tonnes!

Ate from the treetops. Liked large ferns.

Lived in a big herd for protection.

© Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

Titanosaurus

New Zealand Moanasaurus n n n

n

An endemic type of mosasaur.

Found in the shallow coastal waters of Zealandia.

A fearsome predator with a snake-like body.

Moved through the water with its paddle-like feet like crocodiles today.

12m long with a 78cm long skull.

Mauisaurus n

n n n

© Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

Giveaway

A type of plesiosaur called an elasmosaur. It’s known for its tiny head and very long neck.

The largest of its kind in the world at 20m long.

Could only eat small fish and squid.

Lived in shallow coastal waters.

Be in to win a Presentation Pack.

This includes stamps, a mini sheet, stickers, a first day cover, and an A2 map.

To be in to win: Work out who on this page is a dinosaur, marine reptile, or flying reptile. Email your answers to kccinbox@forestandbird.org.nz.

CLOSES 1 JULY 2022

Thanks NZ Post Collectables (collectables.nzpost.co.nz)

5

Our unfrogl Our native pepeketua all belong to an ancient family of amphibians called Leiopelmatidae. They have been around for about 70 million years – that’s near the end of the time of the dinosaurs. They’re a family that no longer exists

We don’t have free ribs. All are fused to our spine bones.

I’m the only one with webbed feet, as I’m the only one that actually goes in the water!

Hamilton’s frog Rod Suisted

Hochstetter’s frog Rod Morris

© Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

We gulp our bugs (opening our mouths and lunging in for a big bite) because we don’t have long tongues.

6 Wild Things

FACT:

We are sedentary - we don’t move around much.

We’re also poor jumpers because we have late jump recovery. That means, when we jump, we land with a type of belly-flop and can only take off again after our belly has hit the ground. More recently evolved species of frogs can land on their feet and immediately jump again.

We used to think there were four species of NZ frogs, but the Maud Island to actually be a subtype of Hamilton’s frog!

© Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

like frogs

anywhere else in the world. They come from a time before frogs developed many of their “froglike” features, and they’ve changed very little over time.

So what’s different about our native frogs?

We use chemicals to communicate rather than sounds. We don’t croak and have no eardrums.

We have round pupils whereas most other frogs have slit pupils.

We live and breed on land in moist, dark forests.

Archey’s frog Neil Fitzgerald

Us two have tadpoles that grow inside their eggs, and hatch as froglets (almost fully formed frogs).

Archey’s frog eggs.

Rod Morris

frog has been discovered

7

Conservation

Heroes

Did you know we have extinct NZ frogs? Kelly Body didn’t know either until she came across them while studying at university. There weren’t any pictures of them, so she decided to create some herself. What an amazing science-art project!

Before the arrival of humans, there were at least seven different species of pepeketua.

Three species became extinct soon after the first introduction of kiore rats about 800 years ago: Markham’s frog (L. markhami), the Aurora frog (L. auroraensis), and the Waitomo frog (L. waitomoensis).

Since then, it seems as though these animals have been left to the footnotes of history – they’re rarely mentioned when any of us talk about Aotearoa’s extinct species. There are no historical illustrations of them to be found, no alcohol preserved specimens, no photographs, and no mention of them in kōrero from iwi around the country. The only information we have is in a handful of scientific articles and several images of their recovered bones.

To get people talking about our lost frogs, I decided to recreate two species, the Waitomo and Aurora frog, through a series of artworks. © Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

8 Wild Things

I read what scientists had said about the bones of these frogs and their DNA to help me slowly piece together what the skeletons of these animals would have looked like. I asked Dr Luke Easton to check my work was accurate, as he knows lots about our native frogs.

No one knows what their skin was like, so that bit was all up to my artistic choice. I thought I would come up with something unique, so I chose colours that I thought matched up to what their bones were telling us about where they had lived, and how they lived, and I gave them beautiful patterning.

Our Waitomo frog was the largest of all Leiopelma species, measuring 10cm in length, with long, slender hindlimbs but very short forearms.

The North Island caves where bones were found and its long digits (toe bones) suggest it lived in or by streams and could hop, similar to Hochstetter’s frog.

Our Aurora frog was much stockier in build.

It was about 5cm long, with long, strong forearms and short hindlimbs built for walking about on the forest floor, rather than hopping. All the information on the Aurora frog comes from just one incomplete skeleton found in the Aurora Cave, in Fiordland.

© Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

I hope that my artworks help people feel a connection with our lost frogs and also with our surviving native frogs who keep holding on – even though they are in trouble. We can all find ways to help them!

9

Illustration by Kelly Body

Let your creativity shine and colour the Aurora and Waitomo frogs yourself!

Name: Age: Show us your mahi by emailing us at kccinbox@forestandbird.org.nz

FACT:

10 Wild Things

There are three groups of ika oneone | amphibians in the world today.

Frogs are the most common type of amphibian.

Frogs and toads

Newts and salamanders

Caecilians

Hochstetter’s frog | Leiopelma hochstetteri

Northern grass skink | Common skink | Oligosoma polychroma

Rarity: 2 (declining)

Rarity: 1 (not threatened)

1

2

3

4

5

4

5

6

Impacted by pests: 1

2

3

1

Rob Suisted

Rarity: 2 (declining) 3

4

5

6

3

4

5

Number of babies in a year: Up to 15 Lifespan: 27 years Only found on the Coromandel Pennisula and in Te Kuiti (in the Waikato). Named after Sir Gilbert Archey, a former leader of Auckland Museum. Like Hamilton’s frog types, the males of this species do most of the parenting. They guard their eggs and lovingly clean them. Once hatched, the froglets are carried on the males’ backs until they are ready to be independent.

Our smallest native frog, growing to just 3.7cm long.

DOC

5

4

5

6

2

3

Found in wild places but also paddocks and our home gardens. Are abundant in coastal areas. Love to bask in the sun. Are found from the central North Island down to Wellington, and then from Nelson down the West Coast to Hokitika. Up to 8cm long.

Hamilton’s frog | Leiopelma hamiltoni Rarity: 3 (vulnerable) 1

Impacted by pests: 2

4

Rod Morris

Archey’s frog | Leiopelma archeyi

1

3

Number of babies in a year: Up to 6 Lifespan: 4 years

Our most widespread native frog. Males can grow to 3.8cm long, and females to 5cm long. Wartier than the others. Has partial webbing on its back toes. Lives on stream edges in our rainforests.

Named after the German geologist, Ferdinard von Hochstetter.

2

2

Impacted by pests:

Number of babies in a year: Up to 20 Lifespan: 30 years

1

1

2

3

4

5

4

5

6

Impacted by pests: 1

2

3

Number of babies in a year: Up to 900 Lifespan: 23 years Our largest native frog and also one of the rarest in the world (less than 300 frogs exist). Males grow to 4.3cm and females to 5.2cm. Only lives on Stephen’s Island in Cook Strait. It’s named after Harold Hamilton, who was first to collect it for study.

Phil Bishop

Archey’s frog.

Rod Morris

Challenge Patai

Make a music video

Can you help us speak up for our native frogs!

We have adapted the lyrics of a well-known kids song to share with NZ the key things our frogs need from us: n n n n n

Action on climate change A clean, green NZ (frog skin sucks in pollution) A predator and pest free NZ Protection from diseases, like amphibian chytrid fungus Protection for their habitats.

Lyrics

Three little native frogs (Sung to the tune of five little speckled frogs) Three little native frogs, sat on a forest log Eating the most delicious bugs – yum yum!

One moved to a spot That was clean, and not too hot And that made for a happy, frog – gulp gulp Two little native frogs, sat on a forest log Eating the most delicious bugs – yum yum!

One moved now, carefree Cause here’s rat, weed, and fungus free!

And that made for a happy frog – gulp gulp

We want you to make an awesome stop-motion music video for this song!

Send us a link to your mahi, and we’ll share it on our website and our social media! kccinbox@forestandbird.org.nz.

Make your own 2D frog cut-outs, or find ours on kcc.org.nz (search “frogs”).

© Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

One little native frog, sat on a forest log Eating the most delicious bugs – yum yum!

It moved knowing that It would always have its habitat And that made for a happy frog – gulp gulp

Hochstetter’s frog.

Rob Suisted

13

Our ancient native trees

By Howell Davies, NZ ARB

The ancient native trees of NZ are in a number of different botanical families.

Some of these are unique to NZ, and some part of a wider grouping of trees from around the South Pacific and beyond. They have marvellous adaptations just like our pepeketua, mokomoko, and tuatara.

Kōwhai seed has been dispersed around coastal areas of Aotearoa by seeds floating for long periods in salt water before washing up and germinating. The kōwhai seed is very hard, and it needs special treatment in a nursery to enable germination. This can involve soaking and roughing up the seed coat. There is really good DNA evidence actually to show that the kōwhai is closely related to species across the Pacific Islands and in South America.

NZ kauri evolved 20 million years ago. They are part of an ancient conifer family called Araucariaceae. Other trees of this family live in Australia, the Pacific Islands, South America, and Southeast Asia.

Kauri trees shed their bark. They also shed their lower branches as the tree grows up in the forest canopy. This helps them to direct their energy towards upwards growth. The scientific term for where branches shed is “abscission”.

14 iW Things dl

Kauri take on different forms as they grow and mature. Often, a kauri that has grown up to be a visible tree has gone through a few stages of development – from seedling to juvenile sapling, to young ricker, and through to the more familiar conical (cone shaped) form that the tree maintains for many decades. When it reaches up through the forest canopy to become the dominant tree, it tends to open out to be more broadly spreading because it towers over the surrounding forest.

We have kauri in NZ that are over 2000 years old.

They would have certainly been around when moa and other extinct species walked across Aotearoa.

Why do you think our trees have family in other countries?

HINT: It has something to do with Zealandia...

© Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

Kauri

Kōwhai

© Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

Tōtara are a type of podocarp. They have cousins all through the South Pacific.

Tōtara seeds are unique. They are cone shaped but have this red fleshy part which acts like a lure, as the seed/s are attached to the berry. It’s a primitive type of fruit and designed for bird dispersal.

Once a bird has eaten the berry, the seed is then “pooped” out and is all set to germinate in the right environment.

Did you know...

Trees matter to our reptiles and amphibians too?

Tuatara feel at home with trees. Often, they make their burrows among tree roots or at the base of tree trunks.

Sometimes, they even use decaying tree stumps or logs.

Tōtara

Scientists discovered in 2020 that Hamilton’s frogs – the Maud Island variety – are into climbing trees!

They did a study at Zealandia Ecosanctuary in Wellington (where some frogs are translocated), after noticing them climbing during the night. It was thought they spent their days and nights in rock piles only, so it was a big surprise!

Bastian Egeter

Neil Fitzgerald

15

Biodiversity Supporters

Trees are climate warriors 4–12 June 2022

The ultimate carbon capture and storage machines!

Weather Battlers

Protect trees Plant trees

Soil Enrichers

Celebrate our trees with us this June.

Find out more at kcc.org.nz/be-with-a-tree

© Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

Pollution Reducers

Help us find...

AOTEAROA’S

TREE OF THE YEAR! We need your help to decide which Aotearoa tree is worthy of the 2022 national title.

Tree of the Year Aotearoa is a brand-new annual event that celebrates our trees. All New Zealanders (that’s you!) will have an opportunity to vote for your favourite tree from a bunch of great trees and even better stories. The event is designed to celebrate © Th dliW sgni

the special role trees play in our lives and communities.

eusI ,51 yaM .20 dehsilbuP y Fotser & driB

VOTING OPENS 1 MAY.

www.treeoftheyear.co.nz

SUPPORTERS:

17

Puzzles Mazes

Check your whakautu | answers at kcc.org.nz/puzzle-answers.

Turtles and sea snakes are some of our non-resident native marine reptiles.

That means they are here naturally but only sometimes.

Collect the names of our species as you make your way around the mazes.

Green

Loggerhead

Leatherback

Oliver Ridley

Brownlipped sea krait Hawksbill

Saint Giron’s sea krait

Yellowbellied sea snake

Yellowlipped sea krait

Pataitaitanga | Quiz Delcourt’s sticky-toed gecko (Hoplodactylus delcourti) is a giant extinct species that was removed in 2021 from the list of NZ geckos.

Why? (Circle your answer) It wasn’t actually a gecko.

It is most likely from New Caledonia instead.

18 Wild Things

This gecko species could reach 60cm long!

Lamiot

Tuatara | Sphenodon punctatus Rarity: 2 (at risk) 1

2

3

4

5

6

2

3

Rarity: 4 (endangered) 1

Impacted by pests: 1

Harlequin gecko | Tukutuku rakiurae

4

2

3

4

5

4

5

6

Impacted by pests:

5

Number of babies in a year: Up to 19 eggs Lifespan: Around 60 years Our largest living reptile. Weigh up to 1.5kg when fully grown. Only live in the wild on 32 predator-free islands.

Last survivors of a group of reptiles that lived with the dinosaurs. Incredibly slow growing. Climate change is a big risk as temperature determines the sex of tuatara hatchlings (more males and less females when it's warm). Also, females can only breed every 2–5 years!

Rod Morris

1

2

3

Number of babies in a year: 1–2 Lifespan: Unknown One of the southern-most geckos in the world, only found on Rakiura | Stewart Island. “Tukutuku” is in its scientific name because the patterns on its back look like Māori lattice work. They are they only gecko of their type in NZ. Only breed every 2–3 years.

Rod Morris

Niho taniwha | Chevron skink | Oligosoma homalonotum

Elegant gecko | Auckland green gecko | Naultinus elegans

Rarity: 3 (vulnerable)

Rarity: 2 (declining)

1

2

3

4

5

4

5

6

Impacted by pests: 1

2

3

1

2

3

4

5

4

5

6

Impacted by pests: 1

2

3

Number of babies in a year: Up to 8 Lifespan: 20 years

Number of babies in a year: 1–2 Lifespan: 25 years

Our longest lizard – can grow to 30cm long. Named for the distinctive v shape markings on their backs. They’re very secretive. After scientists first studied them in 1906, they seemed to disappear for 60 years, They are only found in the Hauraki Gulf, on Great Barrier Island and Little Barrier Island. No one knows if they breed every year.

One of our green geckos. Lives in southern Northland through to the central North Island and Taranaki. Can weigh up to 15g – that’s about the same as a CD.

DOC

Rod Morris

Tuatara

Rob Suisted

A legendary

lizard

Instructions:

1 2 3 4 5

Cut the leg off some old trousers, leggings, or tights. Make sure they’re inside out.

Tie a knot at one end, then turn the leg in the right way.

Stuff the leg full with old clothes and bedding.

Squish everything around until you have a nice even “sausage” or “snake” shape.

Up-cycle a taniwha draft stopper!

In Māori tradition, taniwha are creatures that act as kaitiaki | guardians. They keep a watchful eye out for people and for the environment, and remind us what needs to be done. Often they are imagined as looking lizard-like.

Use these instructions to make your own taniwha – with a special role to play.

Draft-stoppers, or draft excluders, stop cold air getting in and warm air getting out. The less electricity we need to make to keep our homes warm and dry, the better it is for our climate!

There’s no one way for a taniwha to look, so get creative.

6

Decorate and use!

Use needle and thread to sew up the open end – or staple it together.

© Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

21

Whose skin is this?

Act like a scientist, and identify gecko and skink species by looking at the patterns on their skin. Use the NZ Herpetological Society website (reptiles.org.nz/herpetofauna/nativeindex) as a tool to help you.

DylanvanWinkel

Our uniqu Our native tuatara, geckos, and skinks are special in the reptile world!

They have developed over millions of years to best suit a life here in New Zealand and are found nowhere else.

So what are some of the things that set them apart?

Ok in cooler weather Most reptiles like it hot, but tuatara don’t like it much when the temperature gets above 25°C. They are most active at night when it’s the coolest.

Even at 6°C, you’ll see them outside their burrow.

1

Living life slowly Tuatara grow more slowly than other reptiles. They are maturing until they are 35 years old. They also reproduce slowly and have a slow metabolism (that’s how fast they turn food into energy).

Strange skeleton The spine of a tuatara looks more like that of fish or amphibians, and their ribs are more like those of crocodiles than lizards.

2 © Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

22 Wild Things

3

Tuatara

The only reptile of its kind in the world!

que reptiles FACT: There are four groups of ngārara | reptiles living today:

Turtles Crocodiles and alligators

4

Lizards and snakes Tuatara.

Evolving faster than any other species Their bodies haven’t changed much from the time of the dinosaurs, but on a DNA level they blow everyone else out of the water! They aren’t “living fossils”.

Special jaws The top jaw of a tuatara has two rows of teeth, whereas their bottom jaw only has one row. They slide their jaws together to eat their food.

5

6

7

© Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

Stefan Marks

23

They’re diverse Our number and variety of gecko species are unusual, especially because our climate is normally too cold for geckos.

8

9

Geckos

We have about 44 native species, grouped

10 © Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

Wild dl 24 Wi Things

11

Skinks

We have over 60 native species.

Atypical toes The lamellae of our native geckos are arranged differently from other geckos. “Lamellae” are scales on the bottom of geckos’ toes. They have microscopic bristles that help give their toes their gripping power.

12

They don’t talk much Only sometimes our geckos will chatter or squeak. Geckos elsewhere are much more vocal.

Jewelled gecko. Carey Knox

d into seven types.

13

Longer living Our skinks, like our geckos, are far longer living than mokomoko | lizards found elsewhere.

Live young There is only one species of NZ skink that lays eggs.

Our geckos give birth too, instead of laying eggs.

This is an adaptation to our colder climate. Our geckos often have twins.

14

Awakōpaka skink. Carey Knox © Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

Find the answers at kcc.org.nz (Search “skin”).

25

A new discovery C. Knox

Hi, I’m a Tautuku gecko.

I’m named after the Catlins forest where I live.

I have only been recently rediscovered, and Forest & Bird has helped find out more about me!

KCC spoke with, Gavin, Francesca and Niko to find out more.

THE CATLINS

•

Gavin White (Tautuku Restoration Pest Control Officer and gecko finder) – made the first observation

26 Wild Things

Gavin (who is very tall) looking dwarfed by the biggest r>t> seen in the forest. F. Cunninghame

© Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

“My job is to do predator control in Forest & Bird’s Lenz Reserve and other parts of the protected forest. It is such a beautiful place that you have to really focus on what you’re doing or you can get easily distracted! I was walking close by a large rātā tree in 2018, and I heard a piercing screech right by my ear. I thought that it was pretty unusual, but I was busy with my work so I decided to just carry on. The next day when I was back hammering in trap markers, I heard the screech again. This time, I decided I should find out where this noise was coming from. I hammered at a marker again and worked out the noise was from down near my knee.

Looking down, a gecko ran up a fern frond.

I had heard there were geckos in the forest back in the past when there was forestry happening, but no one had seen one for a very, very long time. I didn’t have a camera with me, so I wrote a description down of what it looked like and passed it on to Francesca.”

The forest >oor in Tautuku Forest. F. Cunninghame

© Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

Carey and his father-in-law Alf admiring a gecko in the forest.

G. White

Francesca Cunninghame (Forest & Bird’s Otago Project Manager) – working with the scientists “Forest & Bird has some important conservation projects in the Otago Region, and my job is to make sure everything is going well with them.

After Gavin found the gecko deep in the forest, I got in touch with DOC and Carey Knox, who is a herpetologist (that’s an expert on reptiles and amphibians), so we could work together to look for more geckos in Lenz Reserve and other DOC protected forests in our area, and see what their distribution was (how many of them there are and where). They had only been found on the edges of the forest before Gavin’s sighting.

funding will let us to do more rodent control, which is important because mice and rats are a threat to geckos and forests. We also work to get rid of cats, stoats, hedgehogs, possums, deer, and pigs.”

Tautuku geckos are really hard to find. We have been on trips out into the forest for three nights, two days, and found none! Scientists are working on their tools for surveying and monitoring them to make finding them easier. There’s lots of things we don’t know yet about these geckos, and we hope all the knowledge we are helping to build up about them will help to protect them.

Doing predator control is one of the best ways we can help the geckos. If we help keep the forest healthy, its ecosystem will work as it should. The special discovery of these geckos in Tautuku Forest has meant that DOC can prioritise (put first) pest control here. Mahi mō te Taiao | Jobs for Nature

Cary up a tree doing the gecko survey. S. Purdie

27

Gavin “Jim Young and Roy Johnstone, two very keen local Forest and Bird members, have been doing an inquiry project to see how we can make our pest control as effective as possible. We’ve got an area where they’ve stopped predators getting in (called an “exclusion cage”), and with the Botanical Society of Otago they’ve been making notes of how plants are growing here over time. We will be able to see how much of a difference our pest control can make to the forest and use this to show us what success looks like when we do pest control in other parts of the forest in the future.”

Here is some of the variation in colouration and patterning scientists have found. >taahua | Beautiful!

C. Knox and S. Purdie

Niko (age 5) – helps out his mum and knows heaps about the Tautuku gecko. We asked him what he thinks is so special about these lizards.

“They have sticky fingers, and they use them to climb up trees and even your body!”

“They are really good at being camouflaged. They are pretty hard to find. They like to hide away in safe places.”

“Their babies are born!”

“They live in the forest with eels, cockabullies, bats, and lamprey.”

Niko and Sam with a gecko. S. Murphy

28 Wild Things

“We need to keep them safe because sometimes people try to smuggle geckos. There is a jewelled gecko at the museum here that was rescued from Germany.”

© Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

“Each Tautuku gecko has different colouration and patterning. All you need to do to is take photos of the geckos, and then you can tell them apart from each other.”

Hi I’m Jacob and I’m 11 years old. I spend a lot of time in nature, especially down our back garden near the gully (Mangaiti Gully).

We do lots of night walks, and we find stick insects, tree wētā, ground wētā, cave wētā, kōkopu, and morepork. There are giant spiders in the cabbage tree grove. During the day, there are lots of birds, such as tūī, a fantail called “Cheeky”, sparrows, pūkeko, chaffinches, grey warblers, and whitefaced heron, and there’s an Australasian harrier.

I like to do nature walks around the Waikato region.

Jacob with a stick insect at Karangahake Gorge in the Coromandel

What I do in nature…

Daithí (pronounced Da-he) is 5 years old. He

loves being outdoors, exploring and playing in nature! Here are some of the photos he sent in:

© Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

30 Wild Things

© Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

…

Me and my Mummy and Daddy found this beautiful beach with barely a soul there, and we found these eggs. We weren’t sure what they were so we looked them up on this app called iNaturalist.

The app told us that they were reef squid eggs, so we took them back to the ocean so they could survive.

Then we went over to some of the other rock pools, and we spotted a family of little tiny crabs nestled below a triangular shaped rock with oysters surrounding it. We lifted up the sharp rock and also saw an orange cushion star, drying out in the sun.

We slowly picked up the poor thing and transferred the creature to the water once more, so the starfish could live his life without drying up like a crisp and suffering.

The clouds slowly turned black and the wind got stronger, so we decided to go home. The tide was coming in, so it made the journey home a little bit trickier than we expected, but we made it back eventually.

Hazel (age 8)

Madelyn (age 5) explored the beautiful Bay

of Islands and Whangaroa Harbour over the New Year’s break. She went snorkelling, drove the dingy, planned a hike for her family, and swam off the back of her family’s boat.

MAIL US Email your stories and photos to kccinbox@forestandbird.org.nz.

31

© Wild Things Issue 155, May 2022. Published by Forest & Bird

In the

Mailbox Our specifavourite es

Lilly (age 10) drew this awesome jewelled gecko.

Quinn (age 9) drew this fantastic Hamilton’s frog.

Hihi, hihi!

Why are frogs so happy?

They eat anything that bugs them!

What do you call a lizard who likes to sing?

A rap-tile.

Funnies

CONTACT US

ld 32 iWihTngs

kcc@forestandbird.org.nz Wild Things, PO Box 631 Wellington 6140 www.kcc.org.nz

What came after the dinosaur?

Its tail!

NEXT TIME

Ancient birds