Endangered
Grand skink
Oligosoma grande
The grand skink is an endangered species of large skink endemic to the central Otago region of New Zealand.
The skink
Grand skinks are relatively large compared to other New Zealand skinks, capable of growing to lengths up to 11 inches (29 cm).
Range and habitat
Grand skinks are only found in very specific locations in Otago, and are typically limited to the large schist rock outcroppings found in that region. As of 2000, the range of the grand skink has decreased by roughly 90%. The grand skink is an endangered species of large skink endemic to the central Otago region of New Zealand.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet
Most skinks forage in leaf litter or under cover. Burrowing species slip through sand or soil more than they climb.
In crisis
As at the last reassessment in 2012, grand skinks have been classified as Nationally Endangered under the New Zealand Threat Classification System.
Grand skink is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Grand skink, Wikidata item Q2711957. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
