By 3 News online staff
A tuatara was named in honour of a Maori ancestress at a ceremony in Rotorua yesterday.
Rainbow Springs Wildlife Park hosted the event, at which the young female was named after Taurikura of Ngati Ranginui.
Ngati Ranginui's Patrick Nicholas said the tribal legend would now live on through the "precious gift".
The legend of Taurikura tells the story of a little girl who refused to fetch water for her grandfather.
She later felt ashamed, and turned herself into a lizard as punishment as she felt she could no longer face her tribe.
Legend has is that as a lizard she swam downstream to the rocky island of Karewa, from where she became the ancestor of the tuatara.
Rainbow Springs acting manager Dean Lawrie said the park was privileged to be involved in the naming process.
3 News
source: newshub archive
