After teetering on the brink of extinction, the region’s lizards are making a comeback — thanks to a breeding programme managed by Ecoworks NZ with support from DoC and the Biodiversity Condition Fund.

The project aims to re-establish two species at several locations within the region — the green tree gecko and the forest gecko, and they are calling on people to keep their eyes peeled for the rare reptiles.

“I’m just really keen to get my hands on more green geckos for the breeding programme, says Steve Sawyer of Ecoworks NZ.

“Even 10 to 20 years ago people used to see them in the bush all the time, and there were 30 species. But they have been hammered by rats, mustelids, hedgehogs cats and recently-arrived asian wasps — the geckos sun-bask on top of manuka and kanuka and one sting would do them in.

“It’s a bit of a bummer having to keep them in captivity but at least they will survive,” he said.

The progeny of this effort, including this green forest gecko (Naultinus elegans), which was born last week at a secret hatchery, will be released back into sites where predators are either controlled to a high level or have been eradicated.

New Zealand geckos are unique and are found nowhere else in the world.

They are the only reptiles in the world that give birth to live young — snakes, crocodiles and other lizard species around the world lay eggs.

Some New Zealand geckos live high on the scree slopes of the southern mountain ranges and in central Otago.

Most manage to survive the harsh winters by hiding deep within rock cracks. Several species can freeze solid, thaw out again and continue, much like some of New Zealand’s weta — both have an in-built anti-freeze.

Geckos play an important role in New Zealand native forests by pollinating many flowering tree species, particularly pohutukawa.

New Zealand has lost over 75 percent of its indigenous forest during the past 800 years and as habitat disappeared, so have many species.

Gisborne is a prime example of this — most of the region’s coastal forests were cleared from 1890 onwards, and many of our endemic reptiles have quietly disappeared since.

Anyone who finds a gecko can phone Steve Sawyer at Ecoworks, or e-mail ecoworksnz@xtra.co.nz.