Saving reptiles and amphibians – introduction

New Zealand’s native species evolved in isolation from other regions for millions of years after the last land bridge to Gondwana was lost. Birds and insects dominated our ecosystems, and the only native mammals are 2 species of bat.

Reptiles and amphibians under threat

As a result of this unique history, the survival methods of our native reptiles and amphibians are not adapted to predatory animals introduced by Polynesian and European settlers, and these predators have had devastating effects. For example, our native frogs had evolved a ‘freezing’ defence mechanism – this is very effective against birds that hunt using sight but useless against mammals that hunt using smell. These introduced mammals, as well as disease and loss of habitat, threaten the survival of our remaining reptiles and amphibians.

Let’s explore…

In our collection of resources, we take a closer look at our native reptiles and amphibians. We find out why the tuatara really is one of a kind, we examine the differences between skinks and geckos, and we learn more about the unique features of our native frogs.

We investigate current and historic threats, how conservation rankings help to prioritise actions and what it really means if a species becomes extinct. Find out what is being done to help save our native reptiles and amphibians in New Zealand and discover some of the conservation management tools used, including captive management and translocation.

Meet our scientists

We meet 3 scientists who are actively involved in reptile and amphibian conservation research:

• Phil Bishop is passionate about frogs and talks about his research into frog disease. Find out more about his tailor-made frog tanning salons, built to treat a bone disease affecting our native frogs.
• Alison Cree was involved in the establishment of Orokonui Ecosanctuary near Dunedin. Find out how this mainland island and Alison’s research may enable tuatara to return to the South Island.
• Kelly Hare is interested in which captive management regimes result in the healthiest individuals for future translocations. Discover why she spends time chasing skinks down a reptile racetrack.

Take up the challenge

The student activities involve hands-on challenges and opportunities for observation and discussion.

• Prey behaviour: freeze or flee is a physically active simulation to highlight why mammalian predators have had such a dramatic effect on our native creatures.
• Create a lizard-friendly habitat provides students with ideas on how to attract skinks and geckos to the school grounds.
• Observation: learning to see looks at the role of observation in science and gives students the opportunity to boost their observation skills.
• Similarities and differences: skinks and geckos uses a Venn diagram to illustrate key characteristics and observations.
• Conservation ranking in action explores the processes and criteria used to rank animals according to their conservation threat status.
• Ethics in conservation science encourages students to consider the conservation of native frogs from a number of different perspectives.
• Read the Connected article Kimihia Kermit. It describes how students and Ngāti Mutunga teamed up with an ecologist to investigate frog populations in North Taranaki. Can you design a similar survey?
• Frogs for the future? is a ready-to-use cross-curricular teaching resource. It uses the Connected article Kimihia Kermit as the starting point.