Poachers go ‘loco’ over geckos

To the superstitious, their nocturnal sounds inspire spooky tales and talk of bad omen. But to the enterprising, they are like the irresistible “ka-ching” of the cash register.

In some towns in Laguna, residents are cashing in on the growing but illicit demand for tokay geckos, fattening them up in cages till they grow to up to 200 grams and fetch as much as P1,000 per gram.

“A buyer told me that he was able to resell one for P250,000,” said a local middleman, who asked not to be identified.

He said he had helped buyers find poachers whose homes come alive at night with the noise of captive lizards, particularly of the gray and orange-spotted variety native to the province.

“They know that it’s illegal, that’s why they really keep their cages secret,” he said.

The belief that geckos can be processed into a cure for cancer and even AIDS had fed a thriving industry in East Asia while decimating local populations of the animal known to Filipinos as “tuko.”

“It’s already alarming,” said Theresa Mundita Lim, director of the protected areas and wildlife bureau (PAWB), Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

“Reports reaching us show that the collection is now happening throughout the country,” Lim said, noting that the underground trade had been a concern for the bureau since 2009.

Lim said local geckos were reportedly being smuggled to China and Korea, where they are considered raw ingredients for alternative medicine.

“The tokay gecko is now the subject of indiscriminate trade. We’ve been hearing that it’s being used in Chinese traditional medicine (where) they use both the house lizard and the tokay gecko,” Lim told the Inquirer on Wednesday.

At home in forested areas and rocky cliffs, the tuko are also drawn to human dwellings, where they feed on insects and even smaller lizards.

Though not listed by the DENR as a threatened species, the agency has a standing ban on the “collection, possession, transport and trade of geckos,” Lim said.

Violators face fines of up to P300,000 and up to four years in prison under the 2001 Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, she said.

Lim said a syndicate may be involved in the local gecko trade but declined to elaborate pending an investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation’s wildlife protection unit.

PAWB has seized some 150 geckos in nine operations recently conducted in different parts of the country. Of these, 28 geckos have been turned over to the PAWB Wildlife Rescue Center in Quezon City and are set to be released back to the wild, Lim said.

But authorities have only arrested sellers and not buyers or smugglers.

Apart from being a supposed cure for HIV/AIDS, geckos are also believed to be a remedy for asthma, tuberculosis and impotence. Their skin is dried and processed into powder for a tea-like beverage, while the innards are also eaten, according to herpetologist Dr. Arvin Diesmos.

“But so far, there is no scientific evidence in modern medicine that they have chemical compounds used for cancer, AIDS and asthma,” said Diesmos of the National Museum’s zoology division.

Lim warned that the geckos’ dwindling numbers and eventual disappearance could cause insect populations—including those of pests like cockroaches, locusts, and mosquitos—to shoot up.

“People don’t realize that when they are removed from the wild, the cockroaches will populate, dengue will spread and locusts will cause agricultural damage,” said Lim.

She said PAWB would support any research to determine whether geckos indeed possess medicinal properties, but any effort to collect the lizards for this purpose should be sustainable and “should not affect the ecosystem function of the gecko.”

Lim also appealed to the public to be more conscientious in tapping nature for profit, saying the long-term effects of depleting the gecko population far outweigh the temporary gains.

“They have to think twice because geckos have a purpose in ecology. They might be earning from collecting geckos, but maybe that would bring harm to their families in the future,” the official said.