Uploaded May 2021 | Updated September 2026, 16 hours ago
In two special climate-controlled locations at Auckland Zoo, tucked away from our visitor-facing areas, we’re currently caring for the world’s entire population of cobble skinks as well as what is thought to be about a quarter of the population of Kapitia (Chesterfield) skinks.
Luckily for these skinks, our conservation partners at the Department of Conservation were able to carefully collect a small number of each species and bring them to our Zoo for safeguarding just before separate cyclones destroyed most, if not all, of their only known habitats!
Ectotherm keeper Sarah has been carrying out novel research into their dietary habits, collecting fruits from native plants within the zoo grounds including Coprosma, Muehlenbeckia, Melicytus, Podocarpus and Dacrycarpus species, which were then offered as a part of the skinks diet. GoPro cameras were set up to record their natural feeding behaviours and see which fruits were preferred.
While we’re still in the process of analysing the data and writing up this research, Sarah has noticed a distinct preference for white and blue berries over red, among both skink species – an interesting discovery that might indicate something about their former natural habitats before they were altered by agriculture and coastal erosion!
Read more at aucklandzoo.co.nz.
N/B: This footage is shown at x2 speed.
In two special climate-controlled locations at Auckland Zoo, tucked away from our visitor-facing areas, we’re currently caring for the world’s entire population of cobble skinks as well as what is thought to be about a quarter of the population of Kapitia (Chesterfield) skinks.
Luckily for these skinks, our conservation partners at the Department of Conservation were able to carefully collect a small number of each species and bring them to our Zoo for safeguarding just before separate cyclones destroyed most, if not all, of their only known habitats!
Ectotherm keeper Sarah has been carrying out novel research into their dietary habits, collecting fruits from native plants within the zoo grounds including Coprosma, Muehlenbeckia, Melicytus, Podocarpus and Dacrycarpus species, which were then offered as a part of the skinks diet. GoPro cameras were set up to record their natural feeding behaviours and see which fruits were preferred.
While we’re still in the process of analysing the data and writing up this research, Sarah has noticed a distinct preference for white and blue berries over red, among both skink species – an interesting discovery that might indicate something about their former natural habitats before they were altered by agriculture and coastal erosion!
Read more at aucklandzoo.co.nz.
N/B: This footage is shown at x2 speed.
