reptile

Kuranui and Waikaia are iwi-owned islands in the Slipper group off the east coast of the Coromandel peninsula that have not been surveyed for 50 years. We visited both islands for one day and night each in April 2024 and undertook rodent trapping and species surveys of birds, reptiles, and vascular plants. The islands have changed little in 50 years. The avifauna remains similar and shared between both islands while the vegetation has continued to recover on a successional trajectory to a native state following burning. Some new weed species have colonised both islands.

Fruit is an important component in the diet of many lizards, but their role as seed dispersers is often overlooked. Seed retention time and animal movement determine how far a fleshy fruited seed will be dispersed from the parent plant. Seed retention times were investigated in 78 captive Hoplodactylus duvaucelii (Duvaucel’s geckos). Geckos were offered fruits from 10 plant species. Fifty-one geckos consumed fruits and the mean seed retention time was 69 hours (range 31 to 145 hours).