Sponsoring the next generation of Tuatara

Like most people, we are very fond of the humble Tuatara – those uniquely New Zealand reptiles which are the sole survivors of an order which all but died out over 200 million years ago.

It was this Kiwi pluckiness which inspired us to take up the name for our brewery and to use images of real Tuatara in our (by necessity limited) marketing and advertising campaigns.

As such, we feel it is important we give something back to our scaly friends. Tuatara Brewing Company has been a long-term supporter of Zealandia – the Kaori Sanctuary Experience – and their long-term efforts to protect and nurture the still endangered Tuatara.

Zealandia’s flash website notes that Tuatara “were extinct from the mainland since the late 1700s until they were released into ZEALANDIA in 2005. A total of 200 have been transferred. Evidence of breeding was recorded in November 2007 and the first hatchling was spotted in March 2009 - an extremely significant breakthrough in the restoration of this species on the mainland.”

Regular readers of this blog will recall that we also helped present a beer and food matching event to celebrate the first baby’s second birthday.

Now, Tuatara Brewing Company has taken things one step further and become the official sponsor of the new Tuatara hatcheries which are currently being built and nearing completion in Zealandia. The importance of those hatcheries for the eleven juvenile Tuatara who will live there cannot be over-stated. Unfortunately, young Tuatara need protection from adult Tuatara who are actually quite inclined to eat them!

Of course, we are not the only ones to link the reptiles with the brewery. Our friends at WellingtonNZ did a pretty amazing job in this 15-second ad which speculates that Lonely Planet may have dubbed Wellington the Coolest Little Capital in the World because of the Tuatara at Zealandia and/or the Tuatara at the Malthouse.

We are not necessarily claiming all the credit but we do know for sure that the author of the Lonely Planet section on Wellington did a beer tasting at the Malthouse and became a bit of a Tuatara Pilsner fan subsequently… we are just saying…

Cheers from the team at Tuatara