NZ wildlife questions? Ask them here.

NZ bats are awesome. To be particularly picky, they are NZ's only native LAND mammals because of course we also have lots of cetaceans and several pinnipeds. There actually used to be three species of native bat: the long-tailed and lesser short-tailed are still with us, but the greater short-tailed is now presumed extinct. Subfossil remains show that all three were once found all over NZ but by the time the greater short-tail was discovered it was restricted to islands off Stewart Island (and at that time considered to be just a very large subspecies of what we now call the lesser short-tail). The last known population was on Big South Cape island off Stewart Island but disappeared (along with most of the birds and other wildlife) once rats became established there in the late 1960s. None have been seen since. Muttonbirders' kids remembered how they used to go and look at them in the caves and the muttonbirders would find them roosting in the muttonbird burrows. Its remotely possible that there are a few still on some small islands in the vicinity but it is unlikely.

The lesser short-tailed bat is found in three subspecies: the kauri short-tailed bat in Northland and on Little Barrier Island; the volcanic plateau short-tailed bat in (lower) Northland, the central North Island and Taranaki; and the southern short-tailed bat in Nelson, Fiordland and Codfish Island (off Stewart Island; where the kakapo are). The total population is about 50,000 which sounds like a lot, but 40,000 of those are in the central North Island alone.

The long-tailed bat is widespread but probably declining. It is no longer found down the east coast of the South Island (the last ones found there were in Geraldine but I think they've gone now). I don't know population figures.

The scene in the Life of Mammals of the short-tailed bats burrowing through the leaf litter after prey was fantastic. They also burrow into the rotting wood of their tree roosts. When in flight they stay low to the ground. The long-tailed bat stays high so they are generally fairly easy to distinguish when seen. (In the hand they are very distinct: the long-tailed bat has a long tail and short ears; the short-tailed bat has a short tail and long ears). Their differing habits are probably the main factor in their survival rates. The short-tailed is easy prey for cats because they are on the ground a lot and fly low.

I really doubt 1080 is of any concern at all for bats. The ones on Kapiti that were held in aviaries until poisoning on the island was complete, was probably just for the sake of making sure nothing happened to them rather than for any real perceived threat. It could be possible they may take the baits, being ground-feeders, but unlikely. (Just as an aside, there is a native parasitic plant called the wood rose which is apparently the world's only ground-flowering plant that is bat-pollinated).

I know short-taileds have been kept in captivity at Mt. Bruce (before being originally introduced to Kapiti) and they proved easy to keep, as may be expected for a ground-dwelling bat. Apparently there will be some at Auckland Zoo's new native area:
Rare native bats bound for Auckland Zoo | NATIONAL | NEWS | tvnz.co.nz

The following link is also interesting, being from Mt. Bruce:
More about New Zealand lesser Short-tailed bat pekapeka- Mystacina

Note that it says in there that short-tailed bats are related to South American bats, but that is actually an older idea which has been more or less disproved from fossils found in Australia showing that a common ancestor came from there instead (short-tails probably came to NZ from ancient Australia around 30 million years ago). The long-tailed bat on the other hand belongs to a genus of Australian bats and must be a fairly recent colonist of NZ.

The short-tailed bat has a commensal wingless fly that lives on the bats and in their roosts. There is also a song called "Bat Fly" by a NZ band called "Fatcat and Fishface", which is about this fly (my girlfriend really likes the song). Listen to the lyrics!!! So cool.

 

that would be Sir George Grey (if the name sounds familiar, he's popped up on this thread before because he owned Kawau Island and introduced lots of exotic animals there including wallabies and kookaburras). He was Governor of NZ at one stage. Anyway, the story from Walter Buller (1888) was that Grey was at Preservation Inlet in Fiordland in 1868 and was told by Maori there about a moa hunt they had recently participated in, killing one animal out of a group of six or seven. In fact Grey was nowhere near Fiordland in 1868, although he may well have been there in 1878. In either case, it is generally now believed that he was being told a tall tale.

There are literally dozens and dozens of stories of late moa survival, most of them completely implausible (20 foot tall moa, for example). I personally find it extremely unlikely that any moa survived much beyond the first European discovery of NZ. In fact a 2000 paper by NZ palaeontologists Holdaway and Jacomb in Science (vol 287) surmised that moa were probably extinct within 50-160 years of Maori settlement. IF any moa survived they would have been the alpine Megalapteryx which was small and lived in more out-of-the-way places in the mountains (shades of the takahe there), but it is well established that the Maori made more effort to hunt bird species as they got rarer (again, like the takahe) rather than abandon them for easier prey. One interesting titbit is scorched moa vertebrae found in Takahe Valley (Fiordland) in 1949 in an old Maori shelter along with other bird remains and snares. Radio-carbon dating of tussock bedding in the shelter (but not of the bones themselves) showed a date of around 1720, that is eighty years after Tasman first discovered NZ and fifty years before Cook arrived.

I think the best that can be said is that moa survived for longest in Fiordland. But now they're extinct.

 

The laughing owl was already pretty much gone from the North Island by the time of European occupation (there were only two specimens ever collected, both now lost), but it remained common in the South Island until the introduction of mustelids. The last confirmed individual was found dead by a Canterbury road in 1914.

However, there have been a number of reported sightings or reports of calls. The calls are a problem in that the call of the owl is only known from written records, often being described as being similar to the calls of petrels -- and many modern reports of supposed calls come from areas where there are known to be colonies of petrels.

Worthy and Holdaway wrote a very good 1996 article in NZ Geographic (no. 32) covering reported sightings -- including one of a man who kept what may have been one in his wool shed in 1956 to eat the mice! -- and came to the conclusion that it seems highly likely that the laughing owl may have had surviving populations until the 1970s and possibly still does today (the latter not something I personally agree with, although I'd be happy to be proven wrong). I believe the last report of a sighting was in the Richmond forest in 1981.

 

Without wanting to sound like I'm being a smart-arse, I'd have to say a tui. There aren't many passerines as large as tui in NZ, and nectar-feeders such as tui, bellbirds and waxeyes often gain strangely-coloured heads or caps from feeding at flowers (especially flax). Juvenile tui, which would be around this time of year, are slate-coloured with glossy green wings and tail, greyish neck and no throat-tuft. Adults are actually reddish-brown on the back and flanks with glossy green wings and tail (although I'm assuming its not a full adult because the throat-tuft would be a bit of a giveaway!). There is a "mane" of filamentous white feathers around the back of the neck. Both adult and juvenile have a prominent white wing-bar. When seen well tui are really striking birds and not neccessarily identifiable if you're used to seeing them as "black" birds with a white throat-tuft.

 

1) when you go to Tiritiri Matangi you’ll notice immediately the difference in numbers of birds between there and the mainland forests.

2) that would be the peripatus, which is a little beastie called an onchyophoran (Peripatus is one of the genera of the group but is commonly used as the common name; they are also called “velvet worms”).They are VERY interesting animals but far too interesting to do them justice with a simple post and I am far from being an expert in the group, so best to Google the name and see what you come up with. They are very common in NZ, being found under logs and rocks in the forests. They come in various colours, the most common being bluish and greenish. NZ has several species but other species are found right round the Southern Hemisphere in Australia, southern Africa and South America. They are easy to keep but don’t make good exhibits in that they only come out at night. My favourite thing about them is the way they mate: in some the male just deposits the sperm anywhere on the female’s body and the skin dissolves away to allow the sperm to enter the body; in some the male stabs the female through the head to deliver the sperm.

3) there are two families of weta in NZ, cave weta and 'true' weta. There are over 50 species of cave weta; these are the ones that look most like crickets, usually being small with EXTREMELY long antennae. They live in caves as well as in rocky and forested areas. The 'true' weta include the tree, scree, giant, ground and tusked weta. There are over 40 species. (New species are discovered or split from known ones frequently so the numbers are always going up). There are close relatives all round the world, in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. NZ just has more than any other country and a greater diversity of forms and sizes

 

OK, here goes...

1) tuatara were thought to have become extinct on Little Barrier until eight surviving adults (four of each sex) were found over 1991-1992. These were put into a secure enclosure on the island for breeding purposes while kiore (Polynesian rats) were eliminated from Little Barrier. The eggs from these tuatara were incubated artificially and the hundred-odd young thus obtained were reared in rat-proof enclosures. Kiore were finally wiped out in 2004 (after hassles from some of the local Maori who wanted the rats to remain), and in 2006 the reintroductions of the young tuatara began. As for their taxonomic status this has always been a matter of dispute. They do apparently (I have never seen one so can't comment) look distinct from other tuatara and generally have been treated as a separate subspecies (Sphenodon punctatus reischeki), but other studies show little genetic variation from other northern tuatara (S.p. punctatus). Best bet if you really want some proper answers on that question would be to contact Alison Cree directly at Victoria University.

2) sexual maturity: on Stephens Island, where they have been most studied, tuatara reach sexual maturity at 11–13 years and 17–18 cm snout-to-vent-length. On Lady Alice Island the age of maturity is 8-10 years. For the males, the bigger they are the more chance they have of successfully breeding (or, probably more correctly, of outcompeting other males for mates). Tuatara probably reach full-size at around 30 years of age. In the wild females breed only every 2-4 years; in captivity they can breed every year.

3) captive-breeding: DoC likes to keep the native wildlife wild and often doesn't seem to care overly much for captive-breeding (that's not actually true, its just the impression one gets). I have put a list of captive tuatara (from 2002 so not up to date) at the end of the post. In general I think the captive tuatara are to be maintained as a captive population, with breeding used simply to keep it sustainable (except in specific cases). However eggs are often taken from the wild and hatched out in captivity (primarily at Victoria University) so the young can be reared to a reasonable size before re-release. This is actually a far better option than breeding them in captivity, and has much better results. Additionally the breeding of tuatara in captivity is really pretty poor, although it is getting better as more is learned about what is required.

4) punctatus used as model for breeding guntheri: I would say not, as per the above

5) what NZ zoos breed tuatara: breeding has actually been rather poor overall, the best results probably coming from the tuatarium at the Southland Museum. Many places however have had some success, including Auckland, Wellington, Peacock Springs, Mt. Bruce, Otorohanga, Orana Park and Victoria University (including second generation breedings in some cases). Nga Manu recently bred them for the first time (in 2007). Personally I wouldn't really say any of them except maybe the Southland Museum have "functional captive-breeding programmes". The captive population is by no means self-sustaining yet.

6) why are more guntheri overseas: I assume you mean why are there more guntheri at San Diego than in NZ, rather than more guntheri than punctatus? This isn't actually true because there are more guntheri in captivity in NZ than just one at Wellington (does Wellington even have one?). There was a series of experiments on wild-collected guntheri eggs at Victoria University in 1990, 1991 and 1992 to determine incubation time, temperature-dependent sex determination, etc. Total number of hatchlings resulting from these studies was 170. These were retained in captivity for up to five years and most were released into the wild onto two new islands (Titi Island in the Marlborough Sounds and Somes Island in Wellington Harbour -- this latter is an open sanctuary so anyone can visit the island and see this rare species). Some were displayed in various NZ zoos (I first saw two very small ones at Orana Park when I worked there in about 1995) but ultimately only two captive breeding populations are being retained, namely at San Diego (8 animals) and at the Southland Museum in Invercargill (7 animals) (I have a couple of photos of the Tuatarium there on the gallery). I think Victoria University still has a number of animals too (they still had over 50 in 2002). I'm not sure what (or if) other establishments in NZ have guntheri apart for the Southland Museum and Victoria University. I imagine the reason San Diego ended up with a group of guntheri was because they have been funding various tuatara-related schemes in conjunction with Victoria University (for example this one, for common tuatara NZSM OnLine -- Ten years of New Zealand Science Monthly magazine ). There doesn't seem a lot of benefit in having an overseas colony of guntheri other than for advocacy purposes.

 

In 2002, 17 holders in New Zealand and 7 holders overseas had over 800 tuatara. Since then some of the figures below have changed, with some establishments having lost or gained adults (eg, Chester Zoo) or bred young (eg, Nga Manu and Orana Park), and others with young animals that have now grown enough to be laparascoped for sexing (eg, at San Diego). The figures for Victoria University will surely have changed in the last 5 or 6 years. The northern tuatara are no longer held in captivity except maybe for Auckland and Hamilton Zoos' adult ones for breeding (all the others listed here were young ones being grown up for release).

I will just stress again, this list is from 2002 so do not put too much strength on the figures


Cook Strait tuatara S. punctatus (unnamed subspecies)

Chester Zoo 3:5
St Louis Zoo 3:2
Berlin Zoo 4:5
Dallas Zoo 0:0:5
Toledo Zoo 0:0:2
Taronga Zoo 0:3

Kevin Evans (private holder) 0:3
Auckland Zoo 0:0:4
Napier Aquarium 1:4
Otorohanga Kiwi House 4:4:9
National Wildlife Centre (Mt. Bruce) 1:3
Wellington Zoo 4:6:1
Peacock Springs (Christchurch) 9:1:25
Reptile Research Centre (Nelson) 4:6
Nga Manu Sanctuary 2:3
Victoria University 2:2:432
Hamilton Zoo 1:0
Orana Park Wildlife Trust (Christchurch) 3:1
Willowbank (Christchurch) 0:0:11
Pouakai Wildlife Trust 0:1
Rainbow Springs (Rotorua) 2:3
Southland Museum 4:3:53

Total
c. 644

Northern tuatara S. p. punctatus

Auckland Zoo Cuvier Island 4:2:10
Stanley Island 3:2
Otorohanga Red Mercury Island 0:0:4
Hamilton Zoo Stanley Island 5:2:4
Red Mercury Island 0:0:10
captive on Little Barrier Island 4:4: 80

Total
134


Brothers tuatara S. guntheri

Southland Museum 0:0:7
Victoria University 0:1:52
San Diego Zoo 0:0:8

Total
68

Total tuatara in captivity:
c. 845

 

yes I mentioned that somewhere back there. There's no doubt at all that tuatara are being kept privately in Europe and USA (and almost certainly elsewhere) because they turn up for sale from time to time on reptile forums and sale sites. All of these are illegal smuggled animals as they have never been exported to anywhere other than zoos. Same goes for native frogs which occasionally make an appearance. Most of the NZ lizards overseas are also either smuggled or descended from smuggled animals (four species -- the common and forest geckos and the common and copper skinks -- were unprotected until fairly recently and were able to be legally exported; and a few species such as green tree geckos are partly descended from animals sent to overseas zoos; but the majority of species are being kept illegally, albeit being sold quite openly, especially in Europe). According to a MaF Biosecurity guy I did work with, NZ reptiles confiscated overseas are returned to NZ rather than being destroyed, especially if they are endangered species (I would have thought there would be biosecurity issues meaning they would remain in overseas zoos or be destroyed, but there you go)

 

there are about 100,000 common tuatara and about 300 Brothers Islands tuatara in the wild. Head-started Brothers tuatara have been used to establish new populations on Titi and Somes Islands (the only island they are still found on naturally is North Brother, so there are wild animals on three islands total). I believe young animals have been used to establish new populations of common tuatara also, but likewise adults have also been used for this purpose (eg to Karori Wildlife Sanctuary). I would say that the recovery effort for Little Barrier tuatara has certainly paid off, going from just eight known adults in 1991 to over a hundred individuals today. There were about 100 young bred by 2006 as I said and that is the last year I have information on. Of course those young won't be breeding themselves for at least another decade.

I'm not sure what you mean by keeping an open mind on privately-kept tuatara. These animals were illegally removed from the wild, threatening those populations with a whole range of factors including the possibility of accidentally introducing rats or diseases to the islands. Nobody who obtains these animals can have any doubt that they were illegally obtained (two seconds on the internet would verify that they could not be obtained otherwise). They are doing nothing for the species other than causing more problems for them.

 

Chlidonias is a genus of terns. I'd just seen a whiskered tern (Chlidonias hybrida) at Travis Wetland in Christchurch a few days before joining the forum. Whiskered terns are pretty common in much of the world but only rare stragglers to NZ and it was the first one I'd seen in this country. Made sense at the time.