Henry the tuatara has his mojo back 

Invercargill's oldest resident has got the town gossiping after being caught having sex in a public place.

But in this case his behaviour has been a long time coming. It has taken 116 years for Henry, a tuatara, to get his mojo back.

Henry was caught in the act on Friday. It's the first time in his 35 years at the Southland Museum that he has made a move for the ladies.

"I hardly slept that night, I went home so darn excited - God Henry's done his stuff!" says Tuatara expert, Lindsay Hazley.

Henry is in the middle of the important breeding season, but it is only his second year back in with other tuatara. He was kept in solitary confinement for 17 years because he was so aggressive.

Twenty five years ago he bit off his new lover Mildred's tail, not once, but twice, when the museum tried to mate the pair.

In 2002, Henry had a cancer tumour removed from his bottom, which could explain his whole attitude problem historically.

The news kept the museum busy on Tuesday. Henry and the other tuatara are lapping up the attention.

"Oh he's been pretty coy. He's been sitting out there and I can see a wee smirk on his face," says Hazley.

No one knows how long tuatara live, but if Henry died tomorrow, he would die a happy man.