Zoology PhD candidate Jon Rolfes will give a presentation about taonga species the harlequin gecko, the small-eared skink and the southern skink at a talk at Rakiura Stewart Island next Wednesday 16 September.
“It sounds a bit cringey, but it was Steve Irwin that got me into lizards,” says Zoology PhD candidate Jon Rolfes.
Jon spent much of his childhood in Germany entranced by the crocodile hunter, so when it came time to do a gap year after high school, going downunder was the obvious choice.
But Australia’s crocodiles and snakes couldn’t compete with Aotearoa’s cryptic critters.
“The New Zealand lizards really impressed me because they’re so vastly different from what I’m used to. In Europe, lizards live in warm countries,” Jon says.
“It baffled me how many species we have here – about 160 reptile species, compared to 15 in Germany. The diversity is what drew me, and the location – specifically Stewart Island. Having lizards living on top of mountains, being covered in alpine snow, just seemed crazy.”
The harlequin gecko is one such lizard. Its Māori name, tukutuku rakiurae, references both the gecko’s home – Rakiura – and its unique pattern, which looks like the weaving of a tukutuku panel.
Brightly patterned in colours ranging from pink and orange to green and yellow, it’s no wonder the creature captured Jon’s imagination.
“The harlequin gecko is arguably the most beautiful gecko in the world,” Jon says.
“It’s the one I obsess over. I had to go back to Germany because of my visa, but I could never quite let it go.”
Jon, pictured holding a gecko, says “one thing I have to remind myself is that these lizards could be twice as old as I am. The lizards in New Zealand are all very long lived. The oldest one is a gecko that is estimated to be 66 years old". The second image demonstrates how hard Harlequin geckos can be to find.
So, while undertaking his bachelors and master’s degrees in conservation, Jon got in contact with Otago herpetologist Dr Stephanie Godfrey, now his co-supervisor.
“We built my PhD project together with the Department of Conservation (DOC), writing proposals and getting permits, so when I came here in 2024 I was able to start my work.”
For his research, Jon’s also looking at two other lizards only found on Rakiura – the small-eared skink that lives in the mountains, and the southern skink that can be found on the beaches.
“And they’re gorgeous, they’re very nicely striped,” Jon says.
Jon’s research aims to answer two questions – how we can detect where the lizards are, and how well they’re thriving.
“I’m using species distribution modelling, a tool that can be used to predict where the species might be. I go to the sites where I think they might be and check that I’m right,” Jon says.
“For the second part I’m looking at population modelling and comparing it to a very cool data set collected by people before me. I’m amazingly privileged to be able to build my project on the work of Mandy Tocher and Les Moran, who worked on the harlequin gecko about 10 – 15 years ago.”
It’s against the law to touch New Zealand’s native lizards, but with his permits secured, Jon’s been having some close encounters with his favourite geckos.
“They’re very feisty. They constantly try biting you, but because they’re so small, they’re just nibbling on your fingers,” Jon says.
“The adults are about as big as my hand – eight centimetres plus tail. They’re very small. Their beautiful patterns actually act like a fingerprint, so we can identify individuals.”
“The geckos I work with have a two to three-year pregnancy, so they take a very long time to get only two babies at a time,” Jon says. “On Stewart Island the main predators are cats, rats and possums. The island doesn’t have mice and stoats which are a very big problem here on the mainland, as well as hedgehogs.”
Jon hopes his work will help the long-term lizard monitoring that DOC is doing on Rakiura. His species distribution modelling could also be used to help detect other species on the mainland, and his data comparison work should help deepen our knowledge of the long-lived lizards.
But first, he has to find them.
“The problem with skinks is they sit on top of things, and they see you approach. They’re also well known for being fast runners, and for the first half of my PhD I wasn’t able to catch any of them. People made fun of me until they tried it for themselves, and then they were like ‘it’s impossible’.”
Jon and his DOC colleagues will give a talk for Rakiura residents on 16 September, advising them of poaching risks, ecology and Jon’s research, so they’re aware of the work that’s being done in their community.
Closer to home, Jon also enjoys giving talks at schools.
“If young kids can help protect lizards in urban areas, there’s potential for them to come back,” he says.
“In Dunedin the most common lizards are the McCann skinks and the tussock skinks. There are some korero geckos that live in cracks, and there are jewelled geckos on the peninsula. These lizards can’t help themselves, so it’s our responsibility to make sure they survive. I provide advice about lizard gardens and teach the kids what to do when encountering the lizards.”
Jon’s tips for creating a lizard habitat in your garden:
- A lizard habitat should be nice and sunny
- There should be rocks as well as some nice dense vegetation
- Make sure there’s some water
- It needs to be protected so people don’t step into it
- Don’t grab lizards or buy them to put in the lizard garden – you want the lizards to come there by themselves
- It should be a safe haven – a retreat for the lizards. We don’t want to fence them in
- If you see a lizard, don’t pick it up. Just enjoy the view
-Kōrero by Kathryn van Beek, Communications Advisor | Kaiarataki Pārokoroko
Department of Zoology
Zoologists study how animals evolved, their behaviour, physiology and ecological interactions, and how to conserve populations in the face of global change.
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