Posted on 04/22/2010 4:54:28 PM PDT by JoeProBono
CAMBRIDGE, New Zealand, - New Zealand's Maungatautari Restoration Project said a giant gecko found dead in a mouse trap was the first spotted on the mainland in nearly 100 years.
Officials with the project, which aims to restore native species to the Maungatautari mountain region near Cambridge, said the Duvaucel's gecko was found in a mouse trap last month, raising hope that more of the large lizards could be living in the area, the Waikato Times reported Thursday.
Chris Smuts-Kennedy, an ecologist with the project, said the gecko was "in the size range for an adult male." He said the lizards can grow to nearly 12 inches long and "weigh as much as a blackbird."
Smuts-Kennedy said Duvaucel's geckos can live for more than 50 years.
"The most likely scenario is that it represents a surviving population and this is a species which has been thought to be extinct on the mainland for probably close to a century," he said of the gecko. "If he's a Maungatautari born-and-bred animal, it's very unlikely he's the last one."
Thats big enough to eat. Thats likely why there are few left.
Don’t get me started, unless you have a couple of those 5-liter cans of Heineken.
good one
lol....
How much can it save me on my car insurance?
Well... if the species wasn’t extinct before, it is now. Apparently, someone just killed the last surviving member with a mousetrap.
Which island is considered the New Zealand mainland? New Zealand is comprised of two major islands and a number of smaller islands.
Smuts-Kennedy??? Don't tell me I'm the only one to notice that...
What is that? Is that a giant gecko or some other creepy crawly?
In Danish that would be, literally, sh*t-Kennedy or filth-Kennedy. Weird.
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