They are marked with distinctive black, yellow, and green spots, which provides excellent camouflage in their rocky habitat of lichen-covered rocks and schist outcrops.

[citation needed] An estimate from 2001 found that the range of the Otago skink had decreased by roughly 90% over the last 100 years, presumably driven by land use changes, particularly the intensification of farming, and the introduction of mammalian predators.

The Otago skink, having historically been exposed to only limited predation from native birds, was heavily impacted by the spread of house cats, rabbits, ferrets, and weasels in conjunction with the increasing lack of sheltering habitats.

[1] Anthropogenic threats appear to be combining with natural traits suich as low productivity and late sexual maturity to inhibit the recovery of the species.

Additionally, the skink currently requires a specialised habitat, leaving the populations isolated and small with virtually no room for relocation or expanding.

Habitat conservation, predator control, and program monitoring became major objectives and have since proven successful, as skink numbers are slowly increasing.