New Zealand Journal of Zoology abstracts

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Records of foreign reptiles and amphibians accidentally imported to New Zealand

B. J. GILL

Auckland Museum
Private Bag 92 018
Auckland, New Zealand

D. BEJAKOVICH⁺

National Plant Pest Reference Laboratory
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
P. O. Box 24
Lincoln, New Zealand
email:
⁺Author for correspondence.

A. H. WHITAKER

270 Thorpe-Orinoco Road
R. D. 1
Motueka, New Zealand

Abstract  Analysis of 189 records of reptiles and amphibians accidentally imported to New Zealand between 1929 and 2000 showed that 52 species were represented, comprising lizards (65%, mainly geckos), snakes (19%, mainly colubrids) and anurans (16%, mainly hylid frogs). Three species of nocturnal, egg-laying, tropical and subtropical "house geckos" from Asia and the Pacific (especially Hemidactylus frenatus) made up 35% of all interceptions. The predominance of H. frenatus is a new development since the mid 1980s. Ectoparasitic mites were noted at 17% of gecko interceptions. Interceptions were nearly always of single animals, and were evenly spread throughout the year. The main sources of the accidental importations were Australia (26%), south-east Asia (24%) and the south-west Pacific (22%). About three-quarters of the intercepted animals were from the tropics or subtropics. Three-quarters of the animals arrived in cargo shipped to wharves, and Auckland was the entry point for about half the interceptions. The main types of cargo involved were personal effects (21%), bananas (16%), timber (10%), and motor vehicles (9%). Nearly half the intercepted animals (47%) had passed through border controls and were detected after distribution of the cargo. Animals were alive when detected in about 86% of cases.

Keywords  frogs; toads; lizards; snakes; geckos; skinks; transportation; accidental importation; ecological threat

Z01007

Received 12 February 2001; accepted 22 May 2001

New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 2001, Vol. 28: 351-359

0301-4223/01/2803-0351 $7.00/0   (c) The Royal Society of New Zealand 2001

PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (595K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)

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