The Pink House Re-introduction of the Christmas Island Blue-tailed Skink

ThylacineAlive · 14 Aug 2019

Hix said: ↑

Emoia cyanura are found in Kiribati (of which Christmas Island is a part). There's more chance of them being in the trade than the Indian Ocean Christmas Island skinks.
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That is both good to know and extremely disappointing for me Thanks for the information!

~Thylo

Onychorhynchus coronatus · 30 Oct 2019

Hix said: ↑

The Christmas island Blue-tailed Skink (Cryptoblepharus egerniae) is a small skink endemic to Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. In the past the skink was common in large numbers in the settled areas and had also been observed in rainforest clearings elsewhere on the island.

In 2010, after witnessing a dramatic decline in numbers, the last Blue-tailed Skinks were captured from the wild for captive breeding. The lizard has not been sighted in the wild since that time.

Less than 70 individuals were captured and held in both specially constructed tanks and netted outdoor enclosures at The Pink House research station. Part of the group was moved to another facility on the Australian mainland as an insurance population.

In the last seven years the population of skinks has increased in number to around 1300 today. Last week around 140 skinks were released into a new much larger, soft-release enclosure where the lizards will be left to fend for themselves. The enclosure has been prepared over many months, and any of the introduced ants, snakes and centipedes that are believed to have contributed to the decline of the species have been removed. However, the enclosure is not netted so the lizards will still be at risk of predation from the Christmas Island Goshawk and Christmas Island Hawk-owl.

The lizards will be monitored intensively to document their behaviour and survivability. Half the lizards were marked with coloured nail polish to identify individuals from a distance.

Obviously, reintroducing the lizards to various parts of the island is the ultimate goal but that's a fair way off yet. This is the next step toward that end.

One side of the large enclosure.

Inside the enclosure. The small fences you see are pit-trap fences used to remove the introduced predators, and may be used again if the lizards need to be caught. But at this point the pits are covered and the lizards can go around the fences.

Hix
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Fascinating pictures and details ! , thank you for sharing

vogelcommando · 21 Mar 2021

Cause of the threat found :

Killer of Critically Endangered Christmas Island Reptile Identified – SciTechDaily

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The Pink House Re-introduction of the Christmas Island Blue-tailed Skink

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