Tuatara at Invercargill, New Zealand

Statue showing the tuatara

We are off on a wee mini holiday for the next 5 days. First stop is Invercargill which is the southernmost city in New Zealand. Its a beautiful, green part of the country and very welcoming.

We arrived this afternoon and after we were settled into our hotel we thought we would go and see the Southland Tuatara.

They are located in the information centre and museum which we found out today is closed. Not sure if its a permanent closure, there was just a notice on the door apologising for the inconvenience.

Luckily the tuatara are still there so we were able to go and see them.

This is the Southland Museum, an interesting looking building

Following the signs

They have a breeding programme here in Southland to ensure this species survives. They have over 100 tuatara there (according to the information sign posted). Below are some of the photos that I got today of the tuatara that were brave enough to come out for us.

This is apparently Henry, the largest Tuatara we saw today. He's believed to have hatched in the later part of the 19th century

This one popped out of the tunnel. They move very fast when they are actually moving

This is the smallest tuatara we saw today. Pretty cute.

I can definitely recommend calling in and seeing these beautiful creatures if you're ever in the area.