New Caledonia's giant geckos are the latest sensation in the global pet trade.
But conservationists warn their social media-fuelled popularity is putting the endangered species at risk.
Deep in the forests of New Caledonia, the undergrowth hides one of the hottest commodities in the exotic pet trade.
The world's largest geckos, rare species that once flourished in the Pacific territory, can fetch thousands of dollars online.
But their exact location is kept a closely guarded secret from pet collectors and traders around the world, for one main reason.
Many of the species have become endangered.
Only park rangers intent on protecting the geckos from poachers and smugglers, like Joël Delafenetre, know how to find them.
"They're beautiful geckos. That's why people are attracted to them," he says.
Late at night in Blue River Park — a densely forested, red-earthed wilderness that resembles Jurassic Park — he spots one on a tree ahead.
It's a Rhacodactylus auriculatus — or a gargoyle gecko, named for the small ridges above its eyes.
At first glance, it looks like a miniature dinosaur.
"I'm happy to find this gecko here. It means the forest is healthy," Mr Delafenetre says.
New Caledonia's geckos are under pressure from habitat loss caused by wildfires, climate change, invasive species, and mining.
Conservationists also fear the species' social media-fuelled popularity is driving a resurgence in poaching.
Mr Delafenetre keeps his method of finding them private, to stop potential smugglers learning the technique online.
"If more are taken from the wild, it will further decrease the population and risk extinction," he says.
But not all of New Caledonia's wilderness is monitored so closely, and poachers are scouring it for the lucrative lizards.
The lizard smugglers
Geckos thrived for millennia as they moved freely around the Pacific archipelago's ecologically diverse habitats, free of natural predators.
It's an environment that gave rise to a high rate of what scientists call "endemism" — in other words, nearly all of New Caledonia's geckos can only be found in the territory.
They became popular with poachers in the 70s, and efforts to protect them through environmental laws have been unsuccessful.
Last year, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature found 75 per cent of endemic geckos assessed by scientists in New Caledonia were threatened.
Some species were under pressure from poaching, it said.
And since the explosion of social media use worldwide, word has travelled fast about them among exotic pet collectors.
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.
"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.
"It happens."
Even in his field research, he conceals the specific locations of newly discovered geckos from public knowledge.
But this isn't always enough to deter poachers.
"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.
One species he described, based on four specimens he found in a small area, are now common in the pet trade, he says.
"I'm assuming that those probably are the offspring of some originally illegally smuggled animals.
"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."
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.
"For some of these species … 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."
The gecko market
It's easy to find New Caledonia's giant geckos for sale online.
A quick search on social media generates thousands of videos from breeders and enthusiasts showing them off.
One US-based vendor and influencer, David Utrera, markets geckos via his website and social media pages under the name "TikisGeckos".
He's bred and looked after New Caledonian geckos for more than 15 years, and his YouTube page has more than 100,000 followers.
"Our objective is to educate the public and anyone interested in these incredible animals," the page says.
In one YouTube short video, Mr Utrera tells the audience of an upcoming gecko auction and giveaway — with one specimen starting at $US1 and another offered for free.
His website advertises geckos priced at hundreds of dollars, with one listed for $US1,999.
He says New Caledonian geckos have grown more popular online.
"There has been a big, big boom in interest, especially after COVID … we saw a big increase in sales for these animals," he says.
Mr Utrera says he uses his platforms to inform potential buyers about geckos, how to ethically purchase them, and laws for owning them.
He says the geckos he buys from breeders are ethically sourced but he doesn't rule out the possibility that illegal trade occurs.
"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.
"Are there those people? I'm sure there are. In every industry, in every business, there's gonna be some bad apples."
And he doesn't see poaching, or his videos, as a big risk for New Caledonian geckos.
"I won't say there's no danger," he says.
"But there's such a small percentage chance that somebody would be willing to take them from the wild to sell them to somebody.
"At the end of the day, the animals that we produce in captivity are much brighter, they're much more docile."
[Instagram video]He also says breeders and gecko keepers like himself can help conserve critically endangered species, by breeding them in captivity.
"Not for financial gain, because, to be honest, these are species that are not easy to reproduce," he says.
"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.'"
'Collected like stamps'
Conservationists in New Caledonia disagree, saying gecko collectors have no place helping protect the species.
"They collect these geckos like stamps," says Oriane Lallemand, head keeper at the Zoological and Forest Park in the territory's capital, Nouméa.
"We're entitled to reproduce, to make exchanges, among other zoos, for genetic mixing and to keep the species healthy," she says.
"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."
While there is no breeding and reintroduction program for endangered geckos in New Caledonia, the zoological park works to combat poaching through education.
Marianne Bonzon, manager of the zoological park, says poachers collude with local people who give them access to gecko habitats.
She says those local people are unaware of the need to protect New Caledonia's gecko species.
"It's a shame really, a pity, but we're working on it," she says.
Ms Bonzon expects it could take generations to correct that through education.
"But we're getting there all the same."
Customs officials and rangers have also formed a task force to stop gecko smuggling.
They've reported an increase in animal and plant trafficking nationally, but say resources to prevent it are limited.
New Caledonia received close to 500,000 visitors in 2023, and can't check every piece of luggage at the border.
However, its authorities monitor suspected poachers and smugglers.
"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.
"Our mission today is to make sure that nothing leaves the country."
Ms Read urged people living near gecko habitats to report any suspected poaching and smuggling.
"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 … everybody has to play their part in the protection of biodiversity."
Back in Blue River Park, Mr Delafenetre says he finds gecko poaching bizarre.
"Geckos should stay in the wild," he says.
"Taking them out of their habitat would turn them into farm animals, and that's not the goal.
"I'd rather see them in the wild, living their lives as normal geckos in the forest and not locked up in boxes."
Watch The Pacific's special on the New Caledonian gecko trade here on iView or on YouTube
Credits
- Reporters: Yasmine Wright Gittins and Cooper Williams
- Photography: Cooper Williams and Nicolas Job
- Videography & Drone: Nicolas Job
- Digital Producer: Doug Dingwall
Editor's Note: This reporting was supported by the Sean Dorney Grant for Pacific Journalism through the Walkley Foundation.
