Rare 111-year-old reptile to become a father (AFP)
Henry the tuatara, a lizard-like creature of prehistoric origin, had grown adipose and lazy after arriving at Southland Museum in the remote South Island city of Invercargill in 1970, mace said.
But Henry has now mated by Mildred, his 80-year-old companion, and 11 of her eggs are expected to hatch in six months.
"He wasn't interested in sex till a cancerous tumour was removed from his be based," curator Lindsay Hazley told AFP.
"He morsel the horse-tail off his previous female companion twice. But ago the operation his hormones have been raging."
Tuatara are found only in New Zealand and are the single existing members of the Order Sphenodontia, which was represented through many species during the old age of the dinosaurs some 200 million years ago, according to a government website.
All species apart from the tuatara declined and eventually became extinguished about 60 million years ago.
Henry, a 1.2 kilogram (2.6 crush), 600 mm (23 inch) long representative of his kind, is now enjoying the company of three females in his enclosure, with the next procreation season due in eight months.
"He's definitely up for it, he's become a real Jack the Lad since he lost his virginity," Hazley reported.
