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Name || Common Gecko, Green-tree Gecko |
Scientific Name || Naultinus elegans |
Conservation Status || Protected |
Habitat || Scrub is the favoured habitat of the green-tree gecko, the geckos will often bask on the tops of bushes. At night or in bad weather they shelter under ground litter or loose bark. They are found all over New Zealand except for Northland.
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Unique Features ||
They are the largest of the surviving New Zealand Geckos and one of the largest in the world. They are wery heavy-bodied compared to other gecko species. The green-tree gecko is basically all green and can be plain, spotted or striped, and occasionally overall lemon yellow, again with variable markings.
Social Behaviour ||
Little is known about the behaviour of duvaucelâs geckos in the wild.
Diet ||
NZ geckos are omnivorous, eating mainly arthropods like insects and spiders but also eating soft fruit and nectar when in season.
Reproduction ||
The New Zealand geckos are unusual in the fact that they give birth to live young. The eggs are incubated inside the female, an adaptation to living in a relatively cool climate. The green-tree gecko mates in September, but the young are not born for nearly a year: this is probably the longest gestation of any lizard. It takes about seven years to reach sexual maturity.
Life Cycle ||
Most gecko species live for about three years, some can live for up to 20 years. An individual marked in the wild lived at least 36 years.
Relatives ||
They are related to the other Hoplodactylus species and the Naultinus species.
Interesting Facts :
- The green tree gecko is diurnal and very arboreal, they have a prehensile tail.
- One of the notable features of geckos, is that, like most lizards, they can shed their tail. This is a means of defence - when a predator attacks, the tail is cleanly severed along a fracture line in the vertebra. Muscles in the tail twitch wildly, distracting the predator and allowing the lizard and opportunity to escape. The tail is then regenerated, although the new tail will differ in pattern and form from the original, and has a rod of cartilage rather than bone. Arboreal species, which use their tails extensively as a fifth limb when climbing, are less likely to drop the tail than ground dwelling species.
- Geckos cannot blink since instead of an eyelid they have one transparent scale, which covers the eye. If their eyes are dirty, the gecko licks them clean with its large fleshy tongue.
Breeding Programme ||
We have successfully bred geckos in the past and hope to continue to do so.
Environmental Conditions ||
This species is protected in the wild. The main threat to NZ geckos is habitat destruction, also introduced predators, both mammalian (e.g. rats, cats and mustelids) and avian (e.g. myna, starling). The NZ kingfisher and tuatara are both natural enemies of the gecko.
At Wellington Zoo ||
We have one pair, a yellow female and a green male.
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:: Green Tree Gecko
:: Gecko
:: Tuatara
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