Wellington - Henry, a tuatara reptile relic of the dinosaur age said to be 111-years-old, is to become a father for the first time, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) usually become sexually mature at the age of about 20, but Henry, who lives at the Southland Museum in Invercargill, was a slow developer and did not discover sex until March when he had a romp with Mildred, who is in her 70s.
As a result, Mildred laid 12 eggs last month and although one has perished, the rest are doing well in a museum incubator and should hatch in about six months, curator Lindsay Hazley told the Southland Times.
Wellington - Rising oil prices will help New Zealand, the world's biggest exporter of milk products, continue to benefit from high international commodity dairy prices, according to a government report on Tuesday.
Wellington - A coroner's inquest on a skull found on a New Zealand riverbank has highlighted the mystery of a victim who could have been the first European woman in the country when she died more than 350 years ago, news reports said Tuesday.
Rising oil prices will help New Zealand, the world's biggest exporter of milk products, continue to benefit from high international commodity dairy prices, according to a government report on Tuesday.
The New Zealand economy is in a recession, having contracted for two successive quarters, the Treasury said Tuesday in its monthly review of economic indicators.
