Tuatara names to be Christmas gifts

The naming rights for two Rotorua tuatara have been bought as Christmas gifts in a fundraising promotion.

In a campaign, being promoted as the next best thing to having your own pet dinosaur, people across the country could visit Trade Me and bid for the right to name two baby tuatara. There were three auctions, each offering the naming rights for two tuatara.

Rotorua's Rainbow Springs' 10 baby tuatara siblings are now on display to the public and to celebrate, the team created a series of quirky auction listings, where people were bidding for the right to name them.

The winners of the three listings each get to name two of the baby tuatara and will also receive a family pass to Rainbow Springs and have a photo opportunity with their named tuatara.

The auctions closed last week with the combined totals adding up to more than $770.

Rainbow Springs event manager Kat Hicks said all three of the winners had bought the naming rights as Christmas gifts.

"As yet the tuatara remain un-named," she said.

"The gift recipients will get to name them when they redeem the auction prizes, which also include family passes to Rainbow Springs and a photo opportunity with the tuatara babies."

Ms Hicks said two of the auction winners were from Auckland and one was from Tauranga.

She said the team at Rainbow Springs were thrilled with the money which had been raised. It would go towards the conservation, education and captive breeding programme for tuatara at Rainbow Springs.

"The auction pages were very popular attracting over 5705 page views across the three pages as well as generating some interesting comments and name suggestions."

Some of the names suggested online included Tui and Tara, Darren and Sharon and Poo Poo and Pee Pee.

The tuatara is one of the oldest animals on the planet, and the closest living relative to the dinosaur. Native to New Zealand, they are extremely rare and hard to breed.

Ms Hicks said the 10 baby tuatara were born in April this year after a 184-day incubation period.

They were then cared for in a nursery before going on display to the public in a larger enclosure this month.