Cunningham's Skink

Egernia cunninghami

• Distribution:
  Eastern and southern Australia
• Habitat:
  Rocky mountainous areas, where they live in large colonies in rock crevices and occasionally in hollow logs.
• Diet:
  In the wild they eat insects, worms and snails, native berries and ground plants. At Hamilton Zoo they are fed insects, chopped fruit and vegetables.
• Gestation:
  Viviparous – they give birth to four to six live young in the summer
• Longetivity:
  Up to 20 years in captivity, less in the wild
• Predators:
  Humans, cats, dogs, possums and birds of prey
• Conservation status:
   
  Protected species
• General:

  Skinks are normally smooth-scaled, with long rounded bodies and tapering tails. Their legs are short because many burrow. Some have reduced legs or none at all. The spikes on their backs are angled to offer resistance to predators pulling them too easily out of their holes.

  Skinks are members of the family Scincidae, one of the largest lizard families. Skinks inhabit every continent except Antarctica. They are most abundant in the Australasian and south-east Asian region.

  Active during the day, these skinks spend time basking in the sun.