111-year-old first-time expectant dad
06 Aug 2008
A high-profile sex romp between a century old New Zealand tuatara and his child bride has proved highly productive and could result in 11 offspring.
Henry a rare New Zealand reptile who lives at the Southland Museum in Invercargill had never shown any interest in mating in all his 111 year long life.
But he caused international interest earlier this year when he became intimate with the much younger Mildred, aged between 70 and 80.
Museum staff put Henry's newfound desire down to a cancer growth being removed from his bottom.
Now having proved his manhood he is about to be a first time father.
A dozen eggs
Last month Mildred laid 12 eggs. One has since perished but
Southland Museum tuatara curator Lindsay Hazley says the remaining 11 are being kept in an incubator at between 18 and 21 deg C and should hatch in about six months.
"The fact they have come this far is a good positive sign. As each week goes by I get more confident the eggs will last," says Mr Hazley.
He now expects Henry to breed every season.
Henry is currently enjoying the company of three females in his enclosure, Mildred, Lucy and Juliet, with the next breeding season in eight months.
"With these guys foreplay might take years. One has to be patient. Henry's love life has been a big hit with the public," said Mr Hazley.
Encouraging behaviour
"A few old people have come in having a good old chuckle, saying there was hope for them yet."
Another female tuatara at the museum had also laid 10 eggs last month. But Henry was not the man in her life, 22-year-old Charles was.
Both sets of eggs were laid about two months earlier than expected which Mr Hazley said was probably due to a new roof over the museum's tuatara enclosure. It had provided extra warmth, allowing the process to happen earlier.
Another four or five tuatara at the museum are also expected to lay eggs this season.
Rare breed
Tuatara are rare, medium-sized reptiles found only in New Zealand.
They are the only existing members of the Order Sphenodontia, which was well represented by many species during the age of the dinosaurs, 200 million years ago. All species apart from the tuatara declined and eventually became extinct about 60 million years ago.
Tuatara are therefore of huge international interest to biologists and are also recognised internationally and within New Zealand as species in need of active conservation management.
New Zealand’s Department of Conservation has implemented a conservation recovery plan for tuatara and oversees their captive management.
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