Gekko gecko

srizals@gmail.com

And somebody hits the jackpot again on the wildlife of Malaysia. Malaysia has one of the oldest rainforest in the world. With it, an abundance of wildlife, so diverse you'll be surprised of the shapes and sizes of the creatures that dwell here. A prominent figure in the world of scholars had announced to the world that there is no longer a pure breed of Gallus gallus in Malaysia. They have been contaminated by feral chicken, one of the invasive species here in the lands of the Malay. Trust me. There are still these exotic wild fowls in the jungles of Malaysia. And I won't disclose it here, in case there are fat rich un-Confucius poachers eavesdropping on our friendly conversation and the renowned scholar would have made his point.

But the numbers are dwindling, much, much faster than those who are dwindling in unbelief. Well, thanks to the un-Confucius lots of course. They are overdoing it, not respecting balance and taking it all without limits to fill their unlimited space of ever hungry complicated intestine system and pushing everything to extinction without any remorse. I wonder if we have a harsh enough deterrent to intimidate the filthy rich to not to try and walk the lucrative path of wildlife trade.

Maybe somebody should lose their hands once in a while for daring to loot and destroy the wealth of this nation which would take years to reverse the damage done by these ungrateful lots. But  the Homo sapeins have this tendency of not taking things too seriously (sometimes, of course). The pangolins are being smuggled in mass to Thailand as exotic delicacies.  Once abundant in my place of dwelling, I haven't seen even one for almost two years now. And I'm hoping for the best. Let's hope the men in uniform and the guardians are not tempted by the richness promised by the dark side. Hopefully the last salary hike, twice in a row, does have a positive effect on the moral of the servants of the people that would have a chicken saying to describe their well-being, 'kais pagi, makan pagi, kais petang, makan petang' or hmm, this is quite tricky, but I'll try to translate it, 'foraging in the morning to eat in the morning, foraging in the evening to eat in the evening, which means of having barely enough to eat or survive at the current time and never any surplus or savings to guarantee the uncertainties of the future. Sounds bleak eh?

But have no worries, like I've said earlier, Malaysian forest is ever providing to the people of Malaysia, regardless of race and intention. There is a current craziness if I may, related to one of the faunas found in Malaysia. Before this, the sea cucumber or gamat, then the leeches and now it’s the gecko's turn. Specifically, the Gekko gecko or the Tokay gecko, which is believed to have medicinal properties in the ancient and traditional remedies of the East. So the prices of these used to be despised lizards for their ugly appearances and annoying loud 'Ekk Ook' sounds are increasing with their dwindling presence in the wild and homes of the lucky few. Once a norm in one of the island frequent by me, I would have been very lucky now to have seen one or two and hearing the loud mating call of these giant exotic lizards.

While regulation can’t effectively solve anything, it is quite a surprise of hearing some voices that said no rules and regulations are available for regulating the sales of these giant lizards. Does this mean that all the profits are tax-free or what? Could I kindly suggest that all trade involving live species be regulated with licences and well-documented trading inventories just in case we are not sure of the money and amount of lizards involved in this new found wealth of ours. We would not want to be seen as  a control freak nor a clueless idiot of things going on around us. While admitting the blessed wealth given to the lucky lizard hunters, a regulated  and controlled commerce would benefit all, especially the prized Tokay geckoes, in avoiding excessive exploitation that could cause extinction of these precious lizards in Malaysia.

What a boring world would it be without the sight and the sound of these impressive wall walkers.

http://taipeitimes.net/News/world/archives/2010/08/29/2003481546
http://tokaygecko.org/