DISAPPEARING TUATARA.

Colonist, Volume LV, Issue 13752, 18 June 1913, Page 7

DISAPPEARING TUATARA.

EFFORTS AT PRESERVATION

Tho Hon. H. D. Bell, Minister for Internal Affairs, has supplied Mr H. G. Ell. M. P., with some interesting correspondence dealing with tho yrotoction of the tuatara, a peculiar form of reptilian life which is found only in this Dominion, and which has been threatened with extinction. In his letter to Mr Ell; tho Minister says.? "I have tho• .honour to fof~a;d herewith a copy of a letter received from Mr A. Hamilton, Director of the Dominion Museum, which is.tho result of investigations I have caused to be made, largely at your instance, regarding th-a tuatara lizard. - So far no practical methods of ensuring thoir continuance havo been received, and I sha.l bo1 happy to co-operate with you in any measure which may be suggested for the preservation of tho tuatara. I also ■enclose a copy of an interesting letter received from Dr. Benham, F.R.S., Professor of Biology and Curator of the Otago University Museum, Dunedin, regarding the lizard." Mr Hamilton's report contained extracts from reports by lighthousekeepers, which showed that cats were destroying the lizard on Cuvier Mand, East Island, and Stephen Island.

Professor Ben bam, in his letter, says: "1 am of opinion that the tuatara, kiwi, and I would add, the kakapo, should ho more carefully protected than, at present. The tuatara or sphenodon. in zoological works i. s absolutely unique. As you ere aware, there- is nothing like it anywhere on tho globe. It occurs only within tho limits oF Now Zealand. It has become extinct on the mainland, and, I gather, is diir.inishin"; even on tlioso islands on which a few years ago it was fairly common. It is indeed a surviving fossil; for in order to find anything like it structurally wo have to go back to very early geological times. It is of immense interest to 'naturalists, for it combines in many respects peculiarities of both the crocodiles and turtles* now -so' definitely distinct, but which have descended from ancient tuatara.s, so that it is the most ancient 'reptile on earth. • "For those and other reasons, naturalists all the world over, froirEngland to Japan and the American Continent, look to New Zealand to preserve, if it be possible, this tost link with tho past. It is the only land animal which passed over into New Zealand from tho Coutinent of Asia before our islands were isolated from tho Continent—an isolation, that! has never been broken. The animal has survived hero while becoming exterminated long geological ages ago .elsewhere, because of its freedom from enemies till the fatal introduction of tho pig. by Captain Cook and the later unfortunate .introduction, of cats, stoats, and weasels, by 111----advised people. Tho&e ariimais, if not feeding on the adult tiiataras, attack tho young or devour eggs, .which are laid, as you know, in the ground."