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One of the four swamp skinks found south of Bega. Photo: Shannon Kelleher.<\/p>\n
A small reptile has been rediscovered in remote southern NSW bushland for the first time since the 1980s.<\/p>\n
For Dr Shannon Kelleher, threatened species officer with the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), it\u2019s a long-awaited find.<\/p>\n
She was part of a four-person survey team exploring Nadgee Nature Reserve, which abuts the NSW-Victorian border.<\/p>\n
As part of their search, the ecologists used active searches and deployed baited, white-flash remote camera traps.<\/p>\n
While the ecologists had arrived for a three-day search, they found the reptiles on their second day.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were walking through some suitable habitat, just looking with our binoculars and our eyes at potential basking spots that were above the thick vegetation,\u201d Dr Kelleher said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when my colleague, Andrew Morrison [from NSW National Parks and Wildlife, or NPWS], spotted the first skink basking on a tree stump.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finding the reptile in NSW for the first time in decades left a feeling of elation for the team, which also included fellow threatened species officer Dr Bella Contador-Kelsall and NPWS ranger Simon Conaty.<\/p>\n
This specific reptile is \u201cnotoriously elusive and cryptic\u201d, making finding it a challenge for researchers and conservationists.<\/p>\n
But the seeds of their find were planted when the team was looking back through old records and reports of sightings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe species has only been previously known in NSW from one historical record, which was in that southern Nadgee area \u2014 but that record is quite old,\u201d Dr Kelleher said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt had some inaccurate information associated with it \u2026 We just had a broad area to focus our search on.\u201d<\/p>\n
The swamp skink was classified as endangered in NSW several years ago, and is also known to be present in isolated populations over the Victorian border.<\/p>\n
The swamp skink lives in densely vegetated freshwater and saltwater wetlands, swamps and wet heaths, forages within dense, low vegetation and shelters in burrows or beneath fallen timber.<\/p>\n
\u201dWe initially thought that if we could scout some really good potential habitat for the species and deploy our cameras and try our best to search, that would be a successful trip,\u201d Dr Kelleher said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we honestly couldn\u2019t believe the fact that we actually did manage to find a small group of individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n
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For the team of ecologists, the confirmed swamp skink population gives new hope for the reptile\u2019s future. Photo: Bella Contador-Kelsall.<\/p>\n
Dr Kelleher said it wasn\u2019t known whether the four were related (females give birth to between one and four live young), but all seemed to be in the \u201csub-adult to adult\u201d age range.<\/p>\n
The swamp skinks are believed to be aggressive towards each other, making the discovery of a group extra interesting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey look really similar in size to kind of a common eastern water skink, which most people probably have seen around their house,\u201d Dr Kelleher said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey do vary a lot in their colouration \u2026 [and] the way that we can identify them from other species is by a photograph of their head. Often their head scales are quite unique.\u201d<\/p>\n
The species varies greatly in colour, ranging from olive green-brown to yellow-brown to dark brown.<\/p>\n
It often has copper and black-coloured stripes along its back, pale spots on its legs and a white belly.<\/p>\n
Dr Kelleher and the team plan to return to Nadgee Nature Reserve in search of more swamp skinks in the coming months.<\/p>\n
They are active between September and May, giving scientists a window of a few months.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do suspect there will definitely be more to be seen \u2014 potentially they\u2019re more widespread across southern Nadgee than we currently realise,\u201d Dr Kelleher said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully for the species, they\u2019re really thriving in Nadgee. It\u2019s a really remote, undisturbed wilderness area.\u201d<\/p>\n
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This member of the group came in at only 9.55 grams. Photo: Shannon Kelleher.<\/p>\n
During its visit, the team collected morphological measurements (such as the reptiles\u2019 body lengths, tail lengths and weight) and some samples.<\/p>\n
But Dr Kelleher said that was just the start, with further surveys to build on a conservation plan as they found more of the population.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we find more, we\u2019re going to take some genetic samples,\u201d she said. \u201dThat might give us an indication about how related these individuals are.\u201d<\/p>\n