Environmental Compliance Manager and Kaiārahi Tara Edwards-Tusa and Quarry Operator Mike Buckley worked with ecology consultants Bioresearches to locate, catch and release eight endemic Copper Skinks at Drury quarry.

The skinks, the smallest of New Zealand’s endemic lizards, were found in the western façade area of the quarry and moved into a covenanted, pest-controlled area to the immediate north of the existing pit. The eight skinks found and released ranged in size and age and included a healthy pregnant female.

With a Department of Conservation classification of ‘At Risk – Declining’, Copper Skinks are often mistaken for the introduced plague/rainbow skink. They inhabit areas with good ground cover in open and shaded areas of forests and have a lifespan of 10-20 years.