$2000 and a wash for a tuatara's touch

The Aussies might go in for crocodile wrestling, but here just touching a native reptile will cost you up to $2000 - and even then you'll have to wash your hands first.

A Maori tourism company wants to fly paying guests on to an island reserve by helicopter for a personal encounter with tuatara.

But the plan has sparked debate over just how close humans should get to the country's endangered wildlife.

The proposal has had a favourable response from the Department of Conservation, but Forest and Bird says petting tuatara on Stephens Island would create a dangerous precedent.

"The public access sought is elitist and inconsistent with the aims and objectives for nature appreciation and recreation managed by DoC," said Forest and Bird spokeswoman Debs Martin.

Stephens Island, northwest of Cook Strait, is home to rare lizards and thousands of seabirds but tuatara are its best-known inhabitants. Around 50,000 - 90 per cent of the total population - live there.

Tourism company Tuatara Maori, whose directors include members of the Ngati Koata Trust which shares management of Stephens Island with DoC, thinks the venture is financially viable and feels confident it will go ahead.

"DoC has given a first sign it should be granted and that's given us a lot of confidence," said spokesman Peter Lawless.

The company plans to take groups of five paying clients on a four-hour guided walk at a cost of around $2000.

One tuatara, handled by a trained guide, would be available to visitors to touch, provided, DoC says, "anti-bacterial hand wash" is used first.

Other conditions include passport and birth details of visitors provided 10 days beforehand - to deter wildlife smugglers - and visits limited to four a month.

The island has a DoC ranger and helipad but public access is by permit only. Around 150 people a year visit.

Tuatara expert Professor Charles Daugherty of Victoria University said the proposal raised some concerns.

"I don't think the danger to tuatara is great," he said. "I think the biggest danger is from introduced pests or disease and from fire.

"Someone who's just forked out that kind of money might think they have the right to light a cigarette."

Arguments for and against the plan were made at a public hearing before DoC executive Graeme Ayres in Nelson yesterday and continue today.

He will make a recommendation but the final decision will be made by a ministerial appointee.