Tuatara and Pacific fairy

Our tuatara are made from a resin by Greg who lives on Waiheke Island, a 35 minute ferry ride from Auckland... Greg got inspired while visiting his friends restaurant 'Tuatara' in Auckland... The stylished tuatara he makes are similar to the ones you can see on a 5 cent piece, as Greg used this design for his own tuatara designs...

Five Cents. Alloy: Cupro-nickel Diameter: 19.43mm Weight: 2.83g Design: A Tuatara curled on a coastal rock on which is superimposed the figure 5. A gull flies in the background.

The Mt Bruce National Wildlife Centre has been involved with tuatara since 1974. Tuatara are protected by law and a recovery programme is in place to maintain and increase their population.

What are tuatara?

Tuatara means "spiny back" in Maori. Tuatara are reptiles but they are very different to lizards, crocodiles and amphibians (frogs, salamanders). Tuatara have a primitive body structure that supports the theory that they are one of the oldest and most un-evolved species, having hardly changed in the past 220 million years.

Tuatara have a scaly loose skin which is soft to the touch. They have a variable body temperature which enables them to survive in cold climates. They live in burrows and are nocturnal, hunting at night just outside their burrow entrance. They feed on wetas, worms, lizards, millipedes and small seabirds.

An adult can grow up to 24cm in length and weigh about 500 grams.

Tuatara breed only every two to four years. Tuatara lay about a dozen leathery shelled eggs between October and December. The eggs are burrowed and then abandoned. After about 12-15 months the eggs hatch, the young using an egg tooth to break out of their shells. From the start, baby tuatara take care of themselves, but are very vulnerable to predation. Tuatara mature at about 13 years old and may live to be 60 years old.

There are two species of tuatara. The most common species is Sphenodon punctatus, the tuatara which is found on the Northern Islands. It is thought that the Cook Strait Islands tuatara is a subspecies of the Northern tuatara. Spunctatus has a brown-white appearance. The second species is the Brothers tuatara Sphenodon guntheri which is unique to Brothers Island and has an olive skin with yellow spots.

Pacific Fairy

Our Pacific Fairies are also made from resin. The fairies have koru designs on their wings and Pacific design patterns in their clothing. Designs that are distinctively Pacific.

The fairy have a hook at the back, in between the wings, for hanging.

The fairies can be outside too... and look great!

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