Poachers find lucrative business in selling endangered Asian geckos

India Today , Friday, June 23, 2017
Correspondent : SonaleeBorgohain
North-eastern states of India was the hub for poachers who are engaged in trafficking of body parts of tigers, rhinos and elephants but these trappers have found lucrative business in selling endangered species of lizards 'tokay gecko'. Each one of the live animal, which are usually 40 centimeter long carries a multi million price tag in international market.

According to security agencies and wildlife officers working in Northeastern states, hundreds of locals are now selling tokay geckos to international wildlife traffickers, who smuggle them to centers of Chinese medicine across Asia.

Endangered lizard is in great demand in some Asian countries for its reported medicinal values. Tokay geckos have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for hundreds of years to treat cancer, asthma, diabetes, skin disorders and a range of ailments. Although wildlife experts and environmentalists say there is no scientific proof to substantiate the purported medicinal properties of this reptile species, the tokay gecko has become hot property.

A GECKO CAN FETCH UP TO RS 70 LAKH

A mature gecko can easily fetch up to Rs 70 lakh. The revelation came after officers of Indian Paramilitary force Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) rescued seven tokay gecko which is known as 'KekoSaap' in local parlance in Northeast. Geckos are listed in Schedule III of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, as a 'highly endangered animal'.

The officers also arrested Anil Lama, resident of Assam from Jalpaiguri. "The man confessed that he was planning to sell lizards to an international racket of smugglers at the price of around Rs 4.90 crore. The tokay gecko has a great demand in the international smuggling market," said a senior SSB official.

The SSB personnel later handed over the arrested smuggler and recovered reptile to the forest official of Hamilton Range.

TilottamaVerma, chief of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) told Mail Today that in recent past security agencies have done many rescue operation. Sensitisationprogramme of boarder forces have helped in recognising the species and tracking the trading routes.

According to intelligence, price for each living gecko reaches over Rs 70-80 lakh depending upon size and weight. This makes the animal too vulnerable. Many times, low weight geckos are injected with mercury to make them heavier though that kills the animal within couple of days.

NATIVE TO ASIA AND PACIFIC ISLANDS

The tokay gecko are nocturnal Asian lizard growing up to 40cm in length and weighing up to 200gm. It is native to Asia and some Pacific Islands. This species have also been found in northeast India, Bhutan, Nepal, and Bangladesh, throughout Southeast Asia, including the Philippines and Indonesia, and to western New Guinea in Melanesia.

Its native habitat is rainforest, where it lives on trees and cliffs, and it also frequently adapts to rural human habitations, roaming walls and ceilings at night in search of insect prey. It is an invasive species in the Florida Keys. Increasing urbanisation is reducing its range.

Poaching of endangered lizard is done by local tribes who further hand over to middle men or transporters who smuggles it to international criminals through porous Indian boarders.

It is a challenge for security agencies to track trafficking of small reptiles as boarders are not fenced and there is daily trade among the locals. Sniffer dogs of SSB have placed an important role in check illegal transport of lizards.

GECKOS IMPORTANT SUBJECT OF STUDY

LourembamBiswajeet, who heads the People for Animals (PFA) organisation in the Manipur capital Imphal, says that the geckos are trapped in different parts of Manipur, before they are sent out along the network to traffickers in Myanmar and further transported to Thailand.

"Local tribes are raiding the hilly forests of Manipur that have an abundant populace of the lizard species. We have managed to rescue 85 tokay geckos in past," Biswajit told Mail Today.

Geckos have now become an important subject of study in space research and studies are conducted to replicate the unique adhesive ability of its feet. This can help in capturing free floating uncontrollable space debris which threaten the expensive spacecraft and satellites.

Additionally, there is ongoing research to use the gecko's adhesive characteristic to develop medical tape to substitute post operative suturing, stapling or even pasting for wound closures. This can ensure better cosmetic appearance and health of the skin with less perceivable scar.

IMPORT, EXPORT OF TOKAY GECKO

While the overall volume of the gecko trade is not clearly known, last year, global wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC estimated that Indonesia alone had been exporting 1.2 million dried tokay geckos annually and that in recent years Taiwan has imported 15 million geckos from different countries.

Traffic also warned that the wild population of the tokay gecko in Southeast Asia was in grave danger, as it is hunted to meet demand in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam and other Asian countries.

Now, to meet international demand, gecko trappers from India, Nepal and Bangladesh have joined the trafficking chain. According to wildlife experts, the trappers are active in the Indian states of Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha, among others.

 
SOURCE : http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/poachers-tokay-gecko-endangered-asian-lizard-trafficking/1/992748.html
 


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