AsianScientist (Apr. 16, 2019) – The Vietnamese Cat Ba Tiger Gecko in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, is critically endangered, say scientists in Vietnam and Germany. Their findings are published in the journal Nature Conservation.
Tiger geckos are a genus (Goniurosaurus) of 19 species native to Vietnam, China and Japan. Many of them can only be found within a single locality, mountain range or archipelago. They live in small, disjunct populations, and the population from Ha Long Bay is estimated at about 120 individuals. Due to demands in the international pet trade in the last two decades, as well as habitat destruction, some species are already considered extinct at the localities where they had originally been discovered.
However, it was not until very recently that some species of these geckos received attention from the regulatory institutions in their home countries, leading to the prohibition of their collection without a permit. Only eight tiger geckos have so far had their species conservation status assessed for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
In the present study, scientists led by Mr. Ngo Hai Ngoc at the Vietnam National Museum of Nature in Hanoi, Vietnam, sought to provide an overview of the evidence for domestic and international trade in tiger gecko species.
During their survey, the researchers tracked local traders in possession of wild-caught tiger geckos representing all five Vietnamese species en route to foreign exotic pet markets, mainly in the United States, the European Union and Japan. The species were also frequently found to be sold in local pet shops in Vietnam, or traded via various online platforms and social media networks like Facebook.
Having spoken to local dealers in Vietnam, the team found the animals were passed along complex supply chains, beginning with local villagers living within the species’ distribution range who catch the geckos and sell them to dealers for as little as US$4-5 each. Then, a lizard either ends up at a local shop with a US$7-25 price tag or is transported by boat or by train to Thailand or Indonesia, from where it is flown to the major overseas markets and sold for anywhere between US$100-2,000, depending on rarity.
However, many of these delicate wild animals do not arrive alive at their destinations due to the lengthy trips in overfilled boxes under poor conditions with no food and water.
The team thus recommends that all tiger geckos be included in the appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). They also propose a formal assessment of each species for the IUCN Red List, as well as concealment of any currently unknown localities. Finally, they suggest that coordinated breeding programs be carried out for all species.
The inclusion of all tiger gecko species from China and Vietnam in CITES Appendix II was recently proposed jointly by the European Union, China and Vietnam and is to be decided upon at the conference of the parties in May-June 2019, held in Sri Lanka.
The article can be found at: Ngo et al. (2019) A Case Study on Trade in Threatened Tiger Geckos (Goniurosaurus) in Vietnam Including Updated Information on the Abundance of the Endangered G. catbaensis.
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Source: Pensoft Publishers; Photo: Mona van Schingen.
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