Saving a Living Fossil with Man's Intervention
by David Cooke

Now is the time, more than any that reptiles need to be kept in captivity. Without mans intervention or if you listen to the antis I am certain that far more and far quicker than ever certain reptiles on our planet will become extinct.

One reptile I bring to mind is the Tuatara.

Despite appearances, Tuatara are not lizards, they are the sole living survivor of the order Rhynchocephalia ( "beak headed" ).
Fossil relatives were small to medium- sized reptiles that were common throughout the world between 250 and 120 million years ago, long before Dinosaurs appeared. Later their numbers declined and about 60 million years ago they apparently became extinct everywhere except for New Zealand,where they are still having a tuff time. They were once widespread over the two main islands, but over the last 150 years they have become extinct there.

Habitat destruction and predation by cats, rats, pigs, and other mammals introduced by European settlers and the Maori are probably the main cause of extinction. While about 30 populations are thought to survive, eight are vulnerable or endangered because of the presence of an introduced rat ( the Kiore Rat, Rattusexulans ).
During recent surveys, no juvenile Tuatara was found on seven of the eight rat- inhabited islands. Although there is no experimental evidence, kiore rats probably feed upon tuatara eggs and juveniles, and or compete for food with the adults and juvenile tuataras.

Ten years ago eradication of introduced rodents from offshore islands seemed impossible, but recent success with islands up to 500 acres has changed that view. In a typical rodent eradication program, baits containing a poison are placed all over a island. Poisoning is carried out in the spring when the rat population is at there lowest and where little food is available. Monitoring continues for up to a year after the poisoning has took place before the island is considered rat-free.
All Tuataras are removed before the poisoning takes place and any progeny raised in captivity are released on the island once it has been declared rat-free. Few attempts have been made in the past to breed Tuataras in captivity and proven not to be successful, although recently, significant advance on the husbandry have been made. Enhanced knowledge of the extensive behavioral repertoire of the Tuatara suggests that social interaction should be encouraged in captivity and not the reverse like the antis would have us believe. We know know how to incubate eggs successfully in captivity and more technology to induce accurate climate control.

I don't want to explain to my future children the reason being why these reptiles have become extinct, so mans intervention is much needed to keep these prehistoric reptiles from having the same fate as the Dodo.
No reptile enthusiast would ever want to see reptiles become extinct, so lets stand together and not let our interest, passion all it what you will become extinct by the antis.

We have already saved one living reptile from extinction, so lets see what else we can save by keeping and breeding endangered animals in captivity it may all we will soon have left.