The South Bengal Frontier of the Border Security Force (BSF) seized 14 live tokay geckos that were being smuggled into India from Bangladesh.
Gekko gecko, a lizard with orange spotted blue grey skin, is commonly referred to as tokay gecko. It is frequently seized along the India-Bangladesh border and the India-Nepal border. The latest seizure is one of the largest recoveries of the threatened species in one incident.
“These lizards were being smuggled from Bangladesh to India through the location of Border Out Post Pargumti, 27 battalions, North 24 Paragana border district,” a press statement issued by the BSF said.
The smuggler managed to escape. The geckos, recovered from a polythene bag, were handed over to the West Bengal Forest Department later in the day.
“Usually smuggling of tokay geckos are reported from India to other countries,” said S.S. Guleria, DIG and PRO of South Bengal Frontier said. They would be smuggled in ones and twos concealed under various goods.
The species is protected under Schedule III of The Indian Wildlife Protection Act. Border guarding agencies have seized more than a hundred Tokay Geckos in the past few years. They have been listed in Appendix II of CITES. Wildlife crime experts believe that India and Bangladesh are the source countries for the illegal wildlife trade and China and South Asia are the destinations.
