A new gecko species, Mt Alba, Mount Aspiring National Park.
Photo: Samuel Purdie
The search was conducted by the Department of Conservation in remote areas of Fiordland, Mount Aspiring, Nelson Lakes national parks, and the Hooker/Landsborough Wilderness Area on the West Coast.
Two new types of skinks and two new types of geckos were found.
The Department of Conservation Science Advisor and lizard survey project leader, Dr Jo Monks, said they were now waiting on the results of genetic testing, which would show if the lizards were new species or new populations of known species.
She said they appear to be different to known species.
“If they aren’t new species, it means we have discovered populations of these lizards in places we didn’t know they were, which is great news.” The DOC-led survey teams spent about three days searching for lizards at each site, combing the ground, carefully lifting rocks and spotlighting at night for geckos, which are nocturnal.
There have only been two confirmed sightings of the Cupola gecko in 53 years, but now lizard experts have struck gold deep in the Nelson Lakes National Park (video published March 2021). The surveys sought to gain more information about poorly known or “data deficient” lizards, some of which had only been seen once or twice previously.