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A native skink gets a new home on the Hauraki Gulf island of Motuihe - Source: ONE News -
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Beachgoers on the Hauraki Gulf island of Motuihe will now have to share the sand with some small, scaly companions.
The predator-free island has become the new home for 69 native skinks and possibly hundreds more.
Wrangled by New Zealand's very own lizard hunter, 69 shore skink are being released to the pristine shores.
Volunteers from the Motuihe Trust have helped make the island predator-free.
"They're integral in restoring this island, so tree planting and getting these habitats back in shape for the animals we're bringing out here," says Ben Barr, lizard expert.
The trust was given a permit to transfer up to 80 skinks. All of the females are pregnant and in a couple of weeks there will be more than 200 skinks running around on the sand dunes.
The lizards will feed on the vast numbers of sand hoppers found along the shoreline and join other threatened wildlife that's thriving there.
Over the next three years the volunteers will monitor how the skinks are getting on in their new home.
