Critically endangered skink births expected after captive breeding program success – video

Eleven endangered skinks released into a gated community in Victoria's Alpine national park will soon become 13, when Omeo, one of the females, gives birth in March. One of Australia's only alpine lizards, guthega skinks live on 'sky islands' above 1,600 metres in two isolated alpine locations - Bogong high plains in Victoria and Mount Kosciuszko in NSW. 'They're extremely vulnerable, given where they live,' says skink specialist Dr Zak Atkins, director of Snowline Ecology. As the climate warms, their alpine zone is retracting, and there's nowhere higher for them to go

• Nursing a skink: endangered alpine lizard numbers set to rise after Omeo falls pregnant in Victoria