Urban Sanctuary

Wellington. April 2009. Ajr

I don't mean to boast but I've seen plenty of tuatara. But there is still something quite special about seeing one in the wild - well....almost the wild! I photographed this one at Wellington's Zealandia Sanctuary at Karori and no, it wasn't in a cage. They have many tuatara living 'wild' within this unique, fenced urban sanctuary - the first urban sanctuary in the world. The little coloured beads on the back on its neck are the tags that identify each lizard according to age, gender etc. The little green lizards 'laced together' enjoying the sun were in a cage - a glass house actually. They're the rare Wellington gecko, unique to the capital city. You can read much more about both at www.sanctuary.org.nz