Threats to chevron skink
Introduced mammals
Rats and domestic and feral cats are all known to prey upon chevron skinks on Great Barrier Island. One domestic cat alone is known to have brought home at least six chevron skinks. Feral pigs are also present on Great Barrier although their impact on chevron skinks is unknown.
Norway rat
DOC currently controls feral cats in one large catchment on Great Barrier Island and community groups are also managing or eliminating cats and rats over several hundred hectares of private land in other parts of the island. Little Barrier Island (Hauturu) is now completely free of introduced mammalian predators with the eradication of kiore in 2004. It is hoped that these initiatives will assist the continued survival of chevron skinks.
Road traffic
Vehicles are often overlooked as a threat to wildlife however many of our native species often become casualties on our roads. Despite there being little traffic on Great Barrier Island, several chevron skinks and other lizards are run over on the islands' roads each year when they come out on to the warm roads to bask.
Fight for survival
It is thought that one of the reasons why the chevron skink has survived on Great and Little Barrier islands is due to these islands being free of certain introduced predators such as stoats, weasels and ferrets (mustelids) and Norway rats. Should any of these problem animals become established on these islands it would have disastrous consequences for the chevron skink.
Like all other rodents in New Zealand, Norway rats are known to eat lizards. If the Norway rat managed to colonise on Great or Little Barrier Island the chevron skink would face a great threat of extinction.
Norway rat would be a particular threat to the skink as it prefers to live along water courses and in wet places. These are the same kinds of places where chevron skink have been found.
back to top