Chester Zoo, the northwest’s leading conservationist and award-winning attraction, recently welcomed six lizards with an impressive lineage. The Cheshire Zoo has the distinction of being the only location that has ever bred tuataras successfully outside of their native country New Zealand since 70 million years ago.
Tuataras are ancient reptiles and are believed to predate dinosaurs as a species and have inhabited the earth for close to 200 million years ago. Chester Zoo first started breeding tuataras in 2016, achieving success after decades of effort. The new arrivals have now found a new home at the zoo in a specially designed habitat. The brand-new feature at the zoo is entirely immersive and engineered to faithfully recreate their natural environment including different seasons.
Lead Keeper at Chester Zoo Ectotherms department, Karen Lambert, commented on the lizards’ prehistoric past:
“It’s one of the oldest surviving species on Earth and has a long history on the planet. They’re notoriously difficult to care for but, after nearly four decades, we finally perfected our efforts and have subsequently found success with several successful hatchlings following in 2017 and 2020.”
Today only 50,000 tuataras are estimated to live in the wild and an extremely limited number of people are granted permission to step foot on the protected isles that the lizards call home, which has safeguarded the endangered species against total extinction.
Visitors to Chester can now visit the tuataras in their new habitat at the zoo, located in Upton-by-Chester.
