Tuatara

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Reasons for Endangerment:

The species became extinct on the mainland before the arrival of European settlers. "In 1895, the country of New Zealand awarded the tuatara strict legal protection. It is currently considered a CITES (Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species) Appendix I species. In order for a zoo to posess this species, very demanding rules must be followed, and the public display of tuataras has only recently been allowed. Access to the islands that the tuatara inhabit is strictly regulated, and for many years no tuataras have been removed from any island for any reason."

Class	Reptile
Order	Rhyncocephalia
Average Weight	0.4kg to 1 kg
Diet	arthropods, earthworms, snails, bird eggs, small birds, frogs and lizards, and a native cricket-like insect the size of a mouse called a weta
Lifespan	over 100 years
Habitat	chaparral
Range	30 small, relatively inaccesible, islands off the coast of New Zealand
Additional Information	http://www.oit.itd.umich.edu/bio/doc.cgi/Chordata/Reptilia/Rhynchocephalia/Sphenodontidae/Sphenodon_punctatus.ftl