Water dragon on the loose in Tasman district prompts biosecurity warning

By RNZ

The discovery of a water dragon in the wild in the Tasman district comes with fears over invasive species.

The Australian water dragon can be legally traded and kept as pets here, but it is illegal to release them into the wild in Auckland or Northland.

One was recently found by the Tasman District Council’s biosecurity team, and there are fears that exotic pets could turn into New Zealand invaders if left unchecked.

Auckland Council biosecurity principal advisor Dr Imogen Bassett told RNZ’s Checkpoint the Australian natives posed a threat to New Zealand’s own species and laws around exotic pets needed to be tightened.

“If you’ve got an existing pet, you can hang on to it, but if you’re in Auckland or Northland you can’t breed new ones, you can’t sell them. That means people can’t acquire additional ones.”

However, “in most of the rest of the country you are quite able to breed and sell these things if you want”, she said.

Auckland and Northland are warmer climates and particularly vulnerable to the risk some of these species might create for the environment.

Many might be surprised that foreign lizards and the like are even available in New Zealand with its strict biosecurity laws.

“Quite a surprising number of these animals are available in the country,” Bassett said.

An eastern water dragon, native to the waterways of eastern Australia. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

“Certainly a lot of these reptiles have been around for quite a few decades but it’s maybe in more recent years that they’re sort of taking off and becoming a lot more popular.”

But one of the big problems was when a reptile pet escaped and the damage it could cause, she said.

“In our region, we do get reports of them in the wild from time to time,” with pets such as the red-eared slider turtle.

“You must make sure when you’re getting these animals that you’re keeping them securely contained because they can be pretty speedy at times if they want to move fast, and get out and about, be escape artists.”

Bassett encouraged people to think carefully before they became an owner of one of these animals.

“Are you able to look after this species for its whole natural lifetime?

“Particularly with some of these reptiles and parrots and things, they can actually live for several decades and so it is a big commitment, so we want people to think about that.”

Bassett said if a pet did not work out, owners should responsibly re-home them and not just drop them into the wild.

“That dumping is not good for your pet and it’s also not good for our native wildlife.”

There were many exotic pets people can legally own, she said.

“You can legally buy a range of different lizards, so, different types of geckos and dragons and things, tortoises and turtles. There are some weird and wonderful scaly friends out there.

“They’re still a bit of a niche pet, around 1.3% of households according to the 2020 Companion Animal Survey.

“It’s not everybody’s cup of tea but there are definitely some lizard lovers out there.”

New Zealand does have strong biosecurity controls at the border, with different approaches depending on the animal.

“For example some of the species that are legally here you can’t bring in a new one. You can’t bring in new red-eared slider turtles even though they’re already here.

“And that’s because new ones coming from overseas might carry new diseases that we don’t want here.”

There is room for change on the biosecurity regulations, however, Bassett said.

“There is an increasing acknowledgement around the country that some of these pest pets are potentially really damaging.

“There’s an opportunity for us to have a more consistent, stronger approach to that to prevent some future problems.”

Regional councils are able to put rules into place as needed, but central government can also make national restrictions.

“I think it’s time there for us to be doing a bit of a stock take and thinking about whether we’ve got the right approach.

“I would love to see some of those species banned nationally, it might make implementation easier for us because people wouldn’t be able to just readily buy them from out of the region. It would give us a more consistent approach.”

Animals like the dragon and re-eared slider can be adaptable and easily spread, she said.

“We don’t want these things establishing in our country.”