Henry came to live at the Southland Museum and Art Gallery in 1970. He was already over 70 years old at that time. According to his keepers, he has always been moody and uninterested in the female sex. One year ago a cancerous tumour was discovered below his genitals. After a successful operation Henry’s behaviour changed drastically. He became interested in females and he mated with the 80 year-old Mildred. This resulted in 11 healthy babies.
Although Tuataras (Sphenodon punctatus) look like lizards, they are in fact not lizards. Because they split off from the lizard group at a very early stage of development, they form a separate group within the reptile class. Their anatomy is different and it also has characteristics seen in fish. The animals have a greyish-green to brown colour and they are 40 to 60 centimetres long. Big males can be up to 80 centimetres long. The animals are adapted to a cold climate. Only after 10 to 20 years are the animals grown up and able to reproduce.
In the wild tuataras are only found in New Zealand. The animals were almost extinct there, partly because rats – imported by humans – ate their eggs. At a very early stage (1895) the tuatara became a protected species. Now the animals live on 32 islands near New Zealand where there are no predators.
Unexpected and yet begotten...
25februari2009
Tuatara Henry has become a father at the age of 111. The museum where he is staying reports that this is his first time. An operation changed him from a grumpy animal, with no interest in females, into a virile male.
