Fence for rare skinks

A $350,000 predator-proof fence enclosing a 22ha reserve near Macraes Flat in East Otago will be built next year to try to save New Zealand's rarest reptiles.

The Xcluder fence, funded by the Department of Conservation, requires partial underground construction and will prevent even mice getting through.

Grand and Otago skinks recovery group chairwoman Prof Carolyn Burns said the number of skinks was declining drastically and the animals would be functionally extinct within 10 years if something was not done.