Gecko Smuggling: Philippine Police Rescue 1,600 Lizards In Warehouse

MANILA, Philippines -- An official says police have rescued more than 1,600 geckos in a southern Philippine warehouse they suspect would have been smuggled to Asian countries.

The Philippines has expressed alarm over the growing trade in the wall-climbing lizards. They are used as aphrodisiacs or traditional medicine for asthma, AIDS, cancer, tuberculosis and impotence in countries like China, South Korea and Malaysia.

An 11-ounce (300-gram) gecko reportedly sells for at least 50,000 pesos ($1,160).

Police Senior Supt. Albert Ferro said Wednesday the export of exotic reptiles like geckos is prohibited. Police are preparing criminal complaints against six people who kept the geckos in a warehouse in General Santos city where some lizards have died in boxes.

Comments

[bcmom]

10:29 PM on 11/30/2011

I do not know what the answer is to our continued slaughter of all animals.

[Debbie338]

02:21 PM on 12/01/2011

I feel your frustration. By the time we figure it out, all that will be left is us.

[Sunwyn Ravenwood]

08:37 PM on 11/30/2011

Anyone stupid enough to think that dried lizards can cure AIDS is a dead loss to the species.

[Linus521]

02:23 PM on 11/30/2011

Are these Asian nations educable? We must attempt to educate them with the science of ecology, help them realize that lizards and rhinos are the strands in the web of all life, man's very best friends in all the world, all the reasons they are breathing, have fresh water, food and life because these are the animals that create and sustain the Earth's natural, wild ecosystems, in the eco-nomics of all life, the breath of life and the very life zone of the Earth, her biosphere/ecosphere.

All ecosystems and all lizards and rhinos are in the eco-nomy of a life creating and sustaining Earth, man's only home.

[onebluebrick]

10:39 AM on 11/30/2011

These are sub-human creatures who consider themselves to be human.

[javajosie]

01:37 PM on 11/30/2011

No, these are cute little critters that drive little red cars on TV.

[GirlUsingBrain]

10:21 AM on 11/30/2011

I met quite a few geckos while visiting Fiji. At night, they would come out and and scurry across the walls and ceiling of my hotel room They seemed to be communicating with one another as they made little barking noises.

They were so cute. They were not annoying and I just loved them.

I hope these little guys will be okay.

[Sunwyn Ravenwood]

08:36 PM on 11/30/2011

Geckos are awesome. I wish I could have one as a pet. There is no shortage of bugs for them to eat here in Hawaii, but the native ones are protected and the non-native ones are prohibited.