The Tuatara
(Btw, eastern Southland rarely feels earthquakes and doesn't have any known fault lines.)
Luckily for us, we were still able to check out the Tuatara enclosure, which has a large viewing window on the outside of the building, and the weather was warm enough that the Tuataras were outside for us to see.
For the most part they look like concrete-cast garden ornaments, but occasionally one would move its head - tracking us as we changed positions while taking the photos. We were thrilled each time we spotted yet another of these cool reptiles.
Here are the pics I took. In a couple of them the Tuatara are a little more difficult to spot, but that just makes it all the more fun. ;)
(sorry for the reflection taking up some of the shot)
The most famous resident is Henry, who made headlines around the world when he became a father for the first time, aged 111.
Henry, the famous 111-year-old tuatara from Invercargill, has finally become a dad.
Nine of 11 eggs laid by his lover Mildred hatched at the Southland Museum at the weekend, with the remaining two due last night.
The baby tuatara, whose ancestors go back 220 million years, were all running around and doing well, chuffed museum tuatara curator Lindsay Hazley said.
Henry, a resident at the Southland Museum and Art Gallery since 1970, hit the world headlines in March when he finally proved his manhood at age 111. Mildred subsequently laid 12 eggs, with 11 surviving.
Henry had been uninterested in sex for the entire time he had been in captivity. He had been well-known for his aggression and for 15 years was kept in solitary confinement because he did not get on with other tuatara. But after a cancer growth was removed from his bottom he finally got in the mood.
source
We couldn't tell if Henry was amongst the posers we saw, there were no signs or information that we could see.
You can read some of the interesting history on the museum website's page though.
Another visitor was telling us that often (before the museum closure) people might have been lucky enough to touch one of the reptiles, or have a small one placed on their arm. Children sometimes had the opportunity during school trips.
That would have been so very cool to have experienced, I think.
Even though the museum is closed, and I am not sure what will happen to the Tuatara, they are well worth a visit to see this unique NZ reptile living in the deep south.
All photos taken on my Samsung N8 phone. As long as I can hold it very steady (in this case leaning against the enclosure glass), it takes decent shots otherwise I've found it to be very sensitive to hand vibrations, which then equates to very blurry pics. Overall I am not impressed by the quality of the photos this phone takes, though.