Story: National Parks 2
Episode: 6
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane
Air Date: 20th December 2020

The national park on Christmas Island is home to many unique and remarkable species of animals, some of which you won’t find anywhere else in the world.

• At the Pink House, park rangers are working on the rehabilitation of two lizards, the blue-tailed skink and lister’s gecko.
• The introduction of the southeast Asian bull snake saw a decline in blue-tailed skink numbers.
• Through trial and error, the rangers were able to manage the skinks’ population in captivity. The next goal is to get them out of captivity and back into the wild.
• Being nocturnal and able to climb anything, the lister’s gecko is harder for the rangers to manage.
• The gecko is doing well in captivity but there’s not yet a way to get them back into the wild.
• Dolly Beach is a gorgeous, secluded beach that was once named the 7th best in Australia.
• The beach is approximately a 30-minute drive from settlement and accessible via a 2km boardwalk through the rainforest.
• It’s one of two beaches on Christmas Island where turtles nest. You could see the mother laying her eggs or the babies hatching and making their way back to the sea.
• Christmas Island has the world’s largest population of giant robber crabs. These are the largest land crab on the planet and generally, live to be 50-70 years old.

For more information, head to
christmas.net.au