Search on for 'uncool' turtles in the Waikato

By NICOLA BOYES

They're not the teenage mutant ninja variety but turtles are living wild in parts of the Waikato River, say Department of Conservation staff.

Red-eared slider turtles, made popular by the television series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, are on a list of reptile and amphibian pets believed to be living wild in New Zealand.

Now the department's national biosecurity unit wants to find out how many species are out there to determine their effect on New Zealand's native flora and fauna.

An email was sent to all conservation staff this week asking them to list any sightings of reptiles and amphibians - which are normally sold as pets - living in the wild.

The list includes red-eared slider turtles, axolotls, fire-bellied newts and rainbow skinks.

The survey is the starting point for the department in deciding whether some species should be classified as unwanted organisms under the Biosecurity Act.

That could lead to a ban on breeding, spreading, releasing - or in some cases selling - certain species.

DoC Waikato area office wetland ranger Kevin Hutchinson said turtles were alive and well in the Waikato River but it was hard to say how many.

He said the river, and Hamilton's Lake Rotoroa, had become "dumping grounds for unwanted pets".

He said that in the mid-1990s, as a result of the popularity of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, "all the kids were asking for turtles".

"Twelve months later these turtles weren't so cool to have anymore and 'what are we going to do with them - okay, we'll put them in the lake or river'."

DoC's Waikato technical support manager, John Gumbley, said he had seen turtles and axolotls living in the Waikato River and was aware of Rainbow skinks living on parts of the Coromandel Peninsula.

Biosecurity unit spokeswoman Kathryn Whaley said concern was raised after DoC discovered blue-tongue skinks in the wild.

She said many of the species had a wide-ranging diet and could have a negative biological impact on the environment.

MOST WANTED ON DOC'S LIST

* Red-eared slider turtles.

* Axolotls.

* Eastern water dragon.

* Bearded dragon species.

* Fire-bellied newts.

* Reeves turtle.

* Shingleback lizard.

* Leopard geckos.

* Rainbow skinks.