Moved

Northern Tuatara

Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus)

Eyeing the stranger who seemed to appear out of the blue, Haru couldn’t help but feel somewhat threatened by the man’s rather ominous demeanor. The teen looked away as he took one more drag of his cigarette, tossing it across the alley when he was finished. Perhaps, words and eye contact wouldn’t be necessary in this situation.

It appeared the youth did not wish to speak either. Diedrich did not see a reason to bother him very much about that, as he in turn did not wish to discuss his own reasons for his silence. He simply shrugged, more to himself than anything, and turned away.

Tuatara  (Sphenodon punctatus), Nga Manu Reserve, New Zealand

Tuatara are endemic to New Zealand. They grow very slowly, live to over 100 years old and are the only survivors of an ancient group of reptiles which roamed the earth 200 million years ago (The Sphenodontia).

Tuatara are classified as an endangered species and are now found in the wild mainly on over 30 predator-free off-shore NZ islands.