Larry Williams Drive

Questions have been raised over a three-week mission to locate and re-home three native skinks, at a cost of $85,000. It involved clearing vegetation along State Highway Three near New Plymouth - and releasing one copper skink and two gold striped geckos at Everett Park Scenic Reserve. Auckland University conservation biologist James Russell says the money spent was a fraction of the total costs of work on the highway. He explained New Zealand is extremely bio-diverse - and gold-striped geckos are incredibly rare.  "It's just another species where we don't know what's happening - and if we don't look, it'll just disappear and be another blot on our record." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.