Know your New Zealand natives: goldstripe gecko

It’s acrobatic grace and golden good looks will steal your heart, and what’s more, there’s only one region on mainland New Zealand that you can find this month’s native animal, the goldstripe gecko (Woodworthia chrysosireticus). There are still quite a few of these little geckos throughout their patch on the western coast of the North…

Know your New Zealand natives: copper skink

If you see a sleek little brown skink slinking around your garden, and you live in the North Island, chances are it’s a copper skink. These guys are more scientifically known as Oligosoma aeneum, and are the second smallest native lizard in New Zealand, not longer than a truly titchy 12 centimetres. While they are…

Why do geckos’ eyes shine in torchlight?

Wild geckos are often located by night spotlighting; where researchers use torches to either spot the animals’ body amongst vegetation or to spot “eye shine” – that is, the way that a gecko’s eye will shine (usually pink) when a torch is pointed at it. It looks a bit similar to the type of eye…