New Caledonia’s giant geckos are the latest sensation in the global pet trade.<\/p>\n
But conservationists warn their social media-fuelled popularity is putting the endangered species at risk.<\/p>\n
Blue River Park in New Caledonia, a habitat for giant geckos.(ABC News: Nicolas Job)<\/p>\n
Deep in the forests of New Caledonia, the undergrowth hides one of the hottest commodities in the exotic pet trade.<\/p>\n
The world’s largest geckos, rare species that once flourished in the Pacific territory, can fetch thousands of dollars online.<\/p>\n
But their exact location is kept a closely guarded secret from pet collectors and traders around the world, for one main reason.<\/p>\n
The road through the forest is lit only by the car\u2019s headlights as ranger Jo\u00ebl Delafenetre searches for geckos.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)
The canopy of the Giant Kauri tree is no doubt home to diverse bird and lizard species.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)
The Giant Kauri tree’s size likely spared it from loggers.\u00a0(ABC News: Cooper Williams)<\/p>\n
Many of the species have become endangered.<\/p>\n
Only park rangers intent on protecting the geckos from poachers and smugglers, like Jo\u00ebl Delafenetre, know how to find them.<\/p>\n
“They’re beautiful geckos. That’s why people are attracted to them,” he says.<\/p>\n
Late at night in Blue River Park \u2014 a densely forested, red-earthed wilderness that resembles Jurassic Park \u2014 he spots one on a tree ahead.<\/p>\n
Looking for geckos in the forest at night time in Blue River Park.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)
A gargoyle gecko blends into the undergrowth.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)<\/p>\n
It’s a Rhacodactylus auriculatus \u2014 or a gargoyle gecko, named for the small ridges above its eyes.<\/p>\n
At first glance, it looks like a miniature dinosaur.<\/p>\n
“I’m happy to find this gecko here. It means the forest is healthy,” Mr Delafenetre says.<\/p>\n
Jo\u00ebl Delafenetre holds the gecko up to a camera\u2019s top mount light.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)
The gargoyle gecko makes no sound, but struggles to escape.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)
The gecko’s eyes are huge, made for hunting in the night.\u00a0(ABC News: Cooper Williams)<\/p>\n
New Caledonia’s geckos are under pressure from habitat loss caused by wildfires, climate change, invasive species, and mining.<\/p>\n
Conservationists also fear the species’ social media-fuelled popularity is driving a resurgence in poaching.<\/p>\n
Mr Delafenetre keeps his method of finding them private, to stop potential smugglers learning the technique online.<\/p>\n
“If more are taken from the wild, it will further decrease the population and risk extinction,” he says.<\/p>\n
But not all of New Caledonia’s wilderness is monitored so closely, and poachers are scouring it for the lucrative lizards.<\/p>\n
The lizard smugglers<\/p>\n
Geckos thrived for millennia as they moved freely around the Pacific archipelago’s ecologically diverse habitats, free of natural predators.<\/p>\n
It’s an environment that gave rise to a high rate of what scientists call “endemism” \u2014 in other words, nearly all of New Caledonia’s geckos can only be found in the territory.<\/p>\n
Steps lead through the Palm walk, a patch of remnant forest.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)
Plants grow from the rich red soil.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)
A New Caledonian gecko, called a Rhacodactylus leachianus.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)
The Drowned Forest in Blue River Park, which was flooded for the construction of the Yate hydroelectric dam downstream.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)
The White River marks the boundary between park areas open to the public and those reserved as conservation areas.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)<\/p>\n
They became popular with poachers in the 70s, and efforts to protect them through environmental laws have been unsuccessful.<\/p>\n
Last year, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature found 75 per cent<\/a> of endemic geckos assessed by scientists in New Caledonia were threatened.<\/p>\n Some species were under pressure from poaching, it said.<\/p>\n And since the explosion of social media use worldwide, word has travelled fast about them among exotic pet collectors.<\/p>\n Aaron Bauer, a researcher at Villanova University in the United States who has identified and categorised many of New Caledonia’s lizard species, has witnessed the damage caused by poaching.<\/p>\n “I had been contacted a number of years ago by the district attorney’s office in Los Angeles who found somebody coming into the US who had, I think, a hundred geckos sewn into the lining of their coat,” he says.<\/p>\n “It happens.”<\/p>\n Even in his field research, he conceals the specific locations of newly discovered geckos from public knowledge.<\/p>\n But this isn’t always enough to deter poachers.<\/p>\n “Before I even publish something, chances are the new species is out there somewhere in the pet trade, amongst the elite collectors of pet reptiles who are really competing amongst themselves to get the strangest, the newest, the most colourful,” Dr Bauer says.<\/p>\n One species he described, based on four specimens he found in a small area, are now common in the pet trade, he says.<\/p>\n “I’m assuming that those probably are the offspring of some originally illegally smuggled animals.<\/p>\n “But it is disturbing that an animal that we evaluated as being critically endangered, within a few years, was showing up in the pet trade.”<\/p>\n And while he believes poaching could decrease after pet collectors acquire and begin breeding species in captivity, Dr Bauer says the practice is still putting some of them at risk.<\/p>\n “For some of these species \u2026 If there’s a few years of animals being collected commercially, that may be too much. The populations might not be able to stand that.”<\/p>\n The gecko market<\/p>\n It’s easy to find New Caledonia’s giant geckos for sale online.<\/p>\n A quick search on social media generates thousands of videos from breeders and enthusiasts showing them off.<\/p>\n One US-based vendor and influencer, David Utrera, markets geckos via his website<\/a> and social media pages under the name “TikisGeckos”.<\/p>\n He’s bred and looked after New Caledonian geckos for more than 15 years, and his YouTube page has more than 100,000 followers.<\/p>\n “Our objective is to educate the public and anyone interested in these incredible animals,” the page says.<\/p>\n In one YouTube short video<\/a>, Mr Utrera tells the audience of an upcoming gecko auction and giveaway \u2014 with one specimen starting at $US1 and another offered for free.<\/p>\n His website advertises geckos priced at hundreds of dollars, with one listed for $US1,999.<\/p>\n He says New Caledonian geckos have grown more popular online.<\/p>\n “There has been a big, big boom in interest, especially after COVID \u2026 we saw a big increase in sales for these animals,” he says.<\/p>\n Mr Utrera says he uses his platforms to inform potential buyers about geckos, how to ethically purchase them, and laws for owning them.<\/p>\n He says the geckos he buys from breeders are ethically sourced but he doesn’t rule out the possibility that illegal trade occurs.<\/p>\n “Now is there people in the illegal pet trade that might see, ‘Oh, this is a new species. I’m going to try to find it to illegally sell it, or whatever,'” Mr Utrera says.<\/p>\n “Are there those people? I’m sure there are. In every industry, in every business, there’s gonna be some bad apples.”<\/p>\n And he doesn’t see poaching, or his videos, as a big risk for New Caledonian geckos.<\/p>\n “I won’t say there’s no danger,” he says.<\/p>\n “But there’s such a small percentage chance that somebody would be willing to take them from the wild to sell them to somebody.<\/p>\n “At the end of the day, the animals that we produce in captivity are much brighter, they’re much more docile.”<\/p>\n Loading Instagram content<\/p>\n He also says breeders and gecko keepers like himself can help conserve critically endangered species, by breeding them in captivity.<\/p>\n “Not for financial gain, because, to be honest, these are species that are not easy to reproduce,” he says.<\/p>\n “God forbid we find out that in the wild they’re actually extinct now. I wanted to make sure that for future generations we could show them [and say] ‘Oh, look! This animal comes from New Caledonia.'”<\/p>\n ‘Collected like stamps’<\/p>\n Conservationists in New Caledonia disagree, saying gecko collectors have no place helping protect the species.<\/p>\n “They collect these geckos like stamps,” says Oriane Lallemand, head keeper at the Zoological and Forest Park in the territory’s capital, Noum\u00e9a.<\/p>\n “We’re entitled to reproduce, to make exchanges, among other zoos, for genetic mixing and to keep the species healthy,” she says.<\/p>\n “They won’t be able, like us, to make a large enough genetic mix to prevent the species from changing. The collectors won’t be able to protect the species.”<\/p>\n While there is no breeding and reintroduction program for endangered geckos in New Caledonia, the zoological park works to combat poaching through education.<\/p>\n Marianne Bonzon, manager of the zoological park, says poachers collude with local people who give them access to gecko habitats.<\/p>\n She says those local people are unaware of the need to protect New Caledonia’s gecko species.<\/p>\n “It’s a shame really, a pity, but we’re working on it,” she says.<\/p>\n Ms Bonzon expects it could take generations to correct that through education.<\/p>\n “But we’re getting there all the same.”<\/p>\n Customs officials and rangers have also formed a task force to stop gecko smuggling.<\/p>\n They’ve reported an increase in animal and plant trafficking nationally, but say resources to prevent it are limited.<\/p>\n New Caledonia received close to 500,000 visitors in 2023, and can’t check every piece of luggage at the border.<\/p>\n However, its authorities monitor suspected poachers and smugglers.<\/p>\n “When they’re out of the country, it makes it really hard for us to do anything,” head ranger for New Caledonia’s Southern Province, Tyffen Read, says.<\/p>\n “Our mission today is to make sure that nothing leaves the country.”<\/p>\n Ms Read urged people living near gecko habitats to report any suspected poaching and smuggling.<\/p>\n “If they have some suspicions about people asking too many questions on geckos or wanting [to go to] some really specific areas, we need people to let us know because it’s [not just] our responsibility \u2026 everybody has to play their part in the protection of biodiversity.”<\/p>\n Back in Blue River Park, Mr Delafenetre says he finds gecko poaching bizarre.<\/p>\n “Geckos should stay in the wild,” he says.<\/p>\n “Taking them out of their habitat would turn them into farm animals, and that’s not the goal.<\/p>\n “I’d rather see them in the wild, living their lives as normal geckos in the forest and not locked up in boxes.”<\/p>\n Watch The Pacific’s special on the New Caledonian gecko trade <\/strong>here on iView<\/strong><\/a> or on YouTube<\/strong><\/p>\n Credits<\/p>\n Editor’s Note: This reporting was supported by the Sean Dorney Grant for Pacific Journalism<\/a> through the Walkley Foundation.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Caledonia’s giant geckos are the latest sensation in the global pet trade. 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A crested gecko (Correlophus ciliatus).(AFP: Matthijs Kuijpers \/ Biosphoto)
A New Caledonia bumpy gecko (Rhacodactylus auriculatus).(AFP: Matthijs Kuijpers \/ Biosphoto)
A crested gecko (Correlophus ciliatus).(AFP: Matthijs Kuijpers \/ Biosphoto)<\/p>\n
Dr Aaron Bauer in his lab at the University of Villanova.(Supplied)
A crested gecko from New Caledonia licks fruit puree off the finger of a child at Singapore’s zoo.(AP: Wong Maye-E)<\/p>\n
A gargoyle gecko clings to the side of a tree, descending from the canopy during the night to hunt for prey.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)
The gargoyle gecko blends into its surrounds, seeming to melt into the tree\u2019s bark.(ABC News: Nicolas Job)<\/p>\n
David Utrera holds two crested geckos, one of the most popular pet reptiles in the world.(Supplied)
David Utrera breeds “morphs” of New Caledonian gecko species, resulting in vibrant colours that make them appealing to buyers.(Supplied)<\/p>\n
Oriane Lallemand at the Zoological and Forest Park in Noum\u00e9a.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)<\/p>\n
Oriane Lallemand holds a crested gecko.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)
The park’s zookeepers care for the specific dietary and temperature needs of each individual gecko.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)
A bonded pair of Rhacodactylus auriculatus geckos at the zoological park.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)<\/p>\n
Rhacodactylus leachianus is the largest gecko species in the world. The yellow, brown and green hues of this gecko’s scales are indicative of a wild specimen.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)<\/p>\n
Ranger Sylvie Videault, head ranger for Southern Province, Tyffen Read and head of customs and security Ghislaine Ben Aomar lead efforts to stop smuggling.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)
A display of prohibited goods including native woods, nautilus shells, live animals and plants and turtle shells.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)<\/p>\n
Tyffen Read is involved in efforts to conserve the territory’s unique biodiversity.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)<\/p>\n
A pale gargoyle gecko in the wilderness of New Caledonia’s Blue River Park.(ABC News: Cooper Williams)<\/p>\n
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