By 3 News online staff
Three Tuatara have been welcomed into the world at Wellington Zoo after hatching from their eggs over the weekend.
The baby reptiles have spent the last seven months in an incubator as part of a national breeding programme.
Barbara Blanchard, worldwide Tuatara co-ordinator from Wellington Zoo says she is thrilled with the news.
“Both parents have wild origins, so these hatchlings have good genetic diversity and are fantastic news for the Tuatara recovery plan.”
While the Tuatara have hatched successfully, their sex will not be known for a couple of years, despite their incubation conditions being ideal to produce females.
They will be probed when they are older for their sex to be determined.
The three latest offspring of the 200 million-year-old species are not on display yet but will be later this year.
3 News