Whitaker's New Zealand Skink

Fascinating facts about the Whitaker's New Zealand Skink

• More than 30 years of research by herpetologist Anthony Whitaker earned him a namesake, as the species' scientific name Oligosoma whitakeri honors his work on New Zealand lizards.
• Unlike many reptiles that bask in the sun, this skink spends daylight hidden in warm, moist spots like seabird burrows and deep boulder banks, only emerging on humid nights to hunt.
• It clings to just two predator-free islands, Middle Island in the Mercury Islands and Castle Island, plus a tiny rocky strip at Pukerua Bay near Wellington, showing how dramatically its range has shrunk from a once-wider distribution hinted at by fossil bones in the Waikato region.
• A five-year rescue effort by the Department of Conservation and Friends of Mana Island aims to capture and breed enough individuals from the vulnerable Pukerua Bay colony to start a self-sustaining population on nearby predator-free Mana Island.
• In August 2021 the Department of Conservation listed the skink as Nationally Endangered, a status that underscores how close it is to disappearing without urgent protection.

At a glance

About the Whitaker's New Zealand Skink

Whitaker's New Zealand skink (Oligosoma whitakeri) retreats by day to warm, moist places such as seabird burrows and deep boulder banks, and emerges on warm humid nights to forage. It is found on two small predator-free islands off the Coromandel Peninsula, Middle Island in the Mercury Islands group and Castle Island, and in a mainland enclave at the base of coastal hills in Pukerua Bay near Wellington. Fossil bones found in the Waikato region suggest it once had a broader distribution.

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