Translocation is an essential conservation tool often used to re-establish reptile populations following anthropogenic extirpation, but is not always successful. One factor potentially limiting success is dispersal of individuals from the release site immediately after translocation and consequent non-overlap of ranges. 'Penning' involves the use of an enclosure to restrict dispersal of translocated animals for a pre-determined period of time, with the aim of habituating animals to the release site so that they will establish a breeding population. We evaluated the utility of penning for limiting post-translocation dispersal of jewelled geckos (Naultinus gemmeus) by simultaneously tracking 19 geckos that had either been translocated into a pen for 9-10 months prior to the pen's removal (n = 10) or were translocated to a nearby site with no physical barrier to dispersal (n = 9) over a 3-week period. The area occupied by penned geckos did not increase following removal of their pen, despite suitable habitat being available outside the pen area. In contrast, un-penned geckos moved distances of up to 40 m outside of their release area, and effectively increased the area that they were occupying as a group 4.4-fold over the 3-week period. We suspect that when Naultinus geckos are released without time in a pen, some individuals may disperse too far to contribute to a breeding population and, consequently, the likelihood of population establishment and rate of population growth may be diminished. Our hypothesis is supported by a survey we conducted the following summer in which all four adult female geckos found at the penned site were gravid, but neither of the females resighted at the un-penned site was gravid. We believe that the potential advantages of penning (e.g. restricting initial dispersal, increased ease of monitoring) may outweigh the disadvantages (e.g. cost) for many herpetofauna translocations.

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A lack of effective methods for sampling lizards in terrain that is inaccessible to human observers limits our knowledge of their ecology and conservation needs. Drones are increasingly being used in wildlife monitoring, but their potential use for surveying lizards has not been evaluated. We investigated: (1) the detectability of model lizards using a drone relative to a human observer, and (2) the response of four lizard species to an approaching drone in three habitat types. Model lizards placed in potential basking positions within a defined search area were detected by both the drone operator and human observer, but the probability of detection was lower with the drone. Jewelled geckos (Naultinus gemmeus) in shrubland and grand skinks (Oligosoma grande) in rocky habitats showed surprisingly little reaction to the approaching drone, enabling close approaches (means of 59 cm and 107 cm, respectively) and accurate species identification with photos taken by the drone camera. For highly patterned jewelled geckos, identification was also possible on an individual level. However, the drone was unsuccessful at detecting two alpine skink species in a near-vertical cliff habitat. Collectively, our results suggest that drones have potential as a tool for detecting small-bodied lizards in habitats inaccessible to human observers.

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