Yakka Skink ()

The Yakka Skink photo is unavailable.

The pale fawn Yakka Skink grows to be 20 centimeters, (8 inches), in length. It also has a dark stripe down the middle of its back and some brown or red-brown scales on its sides.  The Yakka Skink has a cream-coloured throat and a yellow-orange chest and belly.

The Yakka Skink is found in one of the most threatened environments in Australia. It lives is the Brigalow woodlands in Queensland. They are found from St. George in the south to the Cape York Peninsula.

Yakka Skinks hide in among dense ground vegetation, in hollow logs, under tree roots,  and under rocks.  They will even dig themselves burrows if there is no other shelter available.  One interesting thing these skinks do is they defecate in a pile close to their burrows.

The Australian Zoo has launched an aggressive conservation program for the Yakka Skink, starting by purchasing a large section of the Brigalow woodland. Young Yakka Skinks are now being raised in captivity at the zoo so that they are larger when they are released into the protected area and have a greater chance of survival.

Not a lot is known about the reproductive, behavioral, or dietary habits of the Yakka Skink.  We do know that skinks in general are usually carnivorous and are usually active in the day, but we're not entirely sure about Yakka Skinks.  This is part of the reason that they are so endangered, because so little is known about them.

Further Information on the Yakka Skink:

Bibliography:

http://www.deh.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=1420 http://www.australiazoo.com.au/conservation/conservation/programs_priority.html#Yakka_Skinks
http://www.embl-heidelberg.de/~uetz/families/Scincidae.html