Around a hundred invited guests and some fantastic weather greeted the Sanctuary’s newest arrivals on 19 October - 130 tuatara gifted into our care by their kaitiaki (guardians) Ngati Koata.
Mainland New Zealand’s only wild tuatara population will nearly treble thanks to a second transfer of the iconic ‘living dinosaurs’ from Ngati Koata, kaitiaki of New Zealand’s largest tuatara population on Takapourewa/Stephens Island.
Less than 18 months ago, tuatara were extinct in the wild on mainland New Zealand. However, in December 2005 an arrangement between Ngati Koata and Wellington’s award-winning Karori Sanctuary saw 70 Cook Strait tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) transferred from Stephens Island (Takapourewa) to the 225ha wildlife sanctuary in the capital.
Come face-to-face with our unique living fossils and talk to the experts who study them.
Some people call the Sanctuary �Jurassic Park�, referring to our trademark 2-metre high predator-proof fence. But recently this nickname has become even more appropriate, because the Sanctuary is now home to a prehistoric animal whose close ancestors were around with the dinosaurs.
The ancient and rare tuatara returned to its natural environment on mainland New Zealand for the first time in over 200 years, when 70 tuatara were welcomed to Wellington?s Karori Wildlife Sanctuary on Friday 2 December.
Join Te Papa’s curators for a fascinating array of talks on New Zealand’s natural history. The six titles published in the Te Papa Te Taiao Nature Series have been […]
“I want to do something splendid...something heroic or wonderful that won't be forgotten after I'm dead. I don't know what, but I'm on the watch for it and mean to astonish you all someday.” - 'Little Women' by Louisa May Alcott
