Coromandel islands probable source of smuggled tuataras

Press, 29 December 1979, Page 2

Coromandel islands probable source of smuggled tuataras

PA Wellington Islands off the Coromandel Peninsula were yesterday pin-pointed as the probable source of tuataras poached for a black market export trade 1 linked to drugs. Reports denying the smug- ( gling of New Zealand's rare j tuataras were discounted yesterday morning by the Director of the Wildlife Service of the Department of Internal Affairs (Mr R. Adams). A report quoting a Marine Division spokesman as saying the department had no report of the reptiles, being smuggled from Stephens Island in Cook Strait “just did not hold up.” Mr Adams said. “I have never thought it was happening in Cook Strait. I happen to know it is certain to be the northern islands.” he said. Stephens Island, about 1.6 km off D’Urville Island, contains half of New Zealand’s 100,000 tuatara (population. It is inaccessible, (with steep sea cliffs and well : guarded. “That would have been the most unlikely place to take them because there are men there all the time,” Mr Adams said. There were other islands off Coromandel which were not even visited twice a year and where tuataras could be removed “quite easily.” Mr Adams said he knew of] one island near Coromandel: where “at low - tide you could' wade out to it. “It is more convenient.: Why come down to Wellington? “You could power out to

n i one of those islands and take | from a dozen to 20 in an il] evening with a torch,” Mr v Adams said. He did not want e to be more specific, about d: methods of catching tuataras •ti — found only in New Zealland — for fear of encouraging poaching. e The tuataras are said to fetch $lO,OOO each on the -i United States black market, fl A New Zealander sending I'them out could receive $3OOO I to $4OOO for his efforts. el Mr Adams said he expected such people- used tl “similar methods that any -i smuggler would use. There ilare no problems in handling Ilan animal like the tuatara j because he will lav - dormant tjfor weeks or months on end. d They virtually sleep all year. 1.1 That is why they live to such i 1 an age.” I i He did not yet have suf-1 tfficient information to pin I J anything down “ ... it is so .( sad.” i Asked to comment on re- . ] ports that the New Zealand] 11 section of Interpol had no I (knowledge of the black mar-1 Jket trade, Mr Adams said it] J was entitled to its opinion. ; The Wildlife Service began: ■(inquiries into an alleged' I black market trade in tua-j (taras about three weeks ago: (after reports of the reptiles’, ■| sale in the United States. ] It is believed the trade] : might be related to the inter- ( (national drug traffic, tuataras! I being used in part payment, li |On Thursday Mr Adams said] ( the service had “nothing con-I ! elusive about drugs.” He appealed to New ZeaHand fishermen or holiday-! I makers to come forward with::

(any information they might have about the poaching of ] tuataras. ] The habits of the declining j population of tuataras were : being closely studied by - the (Wildlife Service. i The service is also studyling the effect the kiore, or I Polynesian rat, has on the tuatara, according to the ] scientist in charge of the (work, Mr D. Newman. ] There tended to be no ] tuataras on islands where ( there were rats, he said.