All in a Reptilians days work? Weta has a unique visitor

We're asked to make replicas of all kinds of things here at Weta - dead humans, morphed animals, Orcs, Centaurs and the like, but it is not every day the Workshop is asked to make a replica of a New Zealand Tuatara.

Ollie the Tuatara (pictured below) was brought into the Workshop this week for moulding after sadly passing away from an internal organ failure. Researcher Jennifer Moore (pictured below with Gino Acevedo) is studying the animals' reproductive behaviour for her PhD with Victoria University of Wellington.

When he passed away, Jen thought it would be a great idea to have a replica of Ollie produced for future study purposes. The most important thing she says was that the figure be malleable and moveable. This would enable the research team to use the model with wild tuatara to test their reactions. She immediately thought of Weta Workshop for the job. 'I figured it would be the best way of getting another super realistic version of the animal done', she says. 'To be able to manipulate and move it around will be tremendously advantageous to our studies.'

'What a fun opportunity for the team at Weta', says Richard, 'it was a great way that we could return something to Jen and her team for the wonderful work they are doing for the conservation of New Zealand wildlife.'

Prior to starting her PhD, Jen had based her earlier studies (Bachelor of Science, Master of Biology) at Northern and Central Michigan Universities, but her love for the animal forced her to relocate to Wellington (NZ is home to the threatened tuatara). Jen says it is the animal's uniqueness that fascinates her. 'They are very unique among reptiles, and are of high conservation value', she says. 'They are also very territorial, nocturnal creatures; they can be aggressive at times and can live for over 100 years, unlike your average species!' (Ollie passed away at the young age of 20.)