Quick Dips

Leave Those
Lizards Alone!

Increasing commercial trade in New Zealand lizards, and the recognition of new species which are at present unprotected, have led the government to offer greater security to the few species of lizard which do not currently fall under the Wildlife Act.

In announcing the extension of the protection, Conservation Minister Simon Upton said that he had received reports from around the country about unrestricted collection of lizards for sale.

"Illegal collection has even been reported from scientific reserves. Recent studies have shown that some of the lizards being collected in large numbers are new species previously unknown to science," he said.

"Some of these may be rare or very restricted in their range, and this large-scale collection for the profit of a few individuals could be very damaging to rare wild populations."

The Wildlife Act lists four species amongst the 40 in this country as unprotected -- by "delisting" these, all New Zealand lizards become protected, making it an offence to collect them from the wild, to buy or sell them, or to hold them without authority.

One reason why it has taken considerable time to recognise the differences between the lizards is that the differences can be microscopic -- vast on a genetic scale, but identical to the eye, according to Ian Govey of the Department of Conservation.

"[The lizards] know the difference, but we don't," he says.

One common variety is now thought to actually consist of eight different species, which has major implications for conservation management.