Rod Rowlands: Lateral thinking needed in lizard protection

The Auckland green gecko is bred in captivity. Photo / Supplied

Lizards have been in the news lately. In January, German Hans Kubus was jailed for 14 weeks and fined $5000 for trying to smuggle 30 geckos and skinks out of the country in his underwear.

More recently three tourists were sentenced to jail terms ranging from 15 to 18 weeks for attempting to smuggle 16 threatened jewelled geckos out of the country.

Among New Zealand's lizards are some remarkably attractive species, which makes them sought after by collectors. There is no legal way for private collectors overseas to obtain such species, which is why the 16 jewelled geckos could have been worth as much as $200,000 overseas. As with stamps or antiques, rarity increases price.

While this situation exists, the likelihood of further attempts at smuggling will increase. The locations of some of the endangered populations are hardly a secret.

While the Department of Conservation and the Wildlife Enforcement Group are making every endeavour to keep the situation under control, finite resources mean that their vigilance cannot be watertight.

We know that our native lizard species appear for sale on the internet from time to time - evidence that some of the smugglers carry out their missions undetected.

While it has long been illegal to export these animals, it is possible for private individuals to keep and breed many species in captivity.

Captive keeping and breeding were firmly established before these animals were brought under the umbrella of legal protection in 1981, and a permit system is in place for people wishing to carry on these activities.

Perhaps it is time to look at whether there might be a better way to avoid illegal plundering of wild populations. There have been suggestions lately that farming of certain wildlife species may make sense.

It is certainly true that extinction of farmed species is very unlikely. One only has to look at the success of crocodile farming in Australia and elsewhere.

Certainly, such farming is focused on the production of meat and skins, but is farming for the pet trade so different?

There are enough captive bred geckos available in New Zealand to set up farming operations easily, without needing to access stock from wild populations. Increasing their availability in this way would certainly lead to a drop in black market demand and help to preserve the viability of our remaining wild populations.

A beneficial side effect may well be that if these populations continue to decline due to the pressures of land development, introduced predators and an under-resourced conservation authority, at least there will be safe captive populations both in New Zealand and in other countries.

New Zealand conservation authorities seem to have an ingrained belief that native animals should not be commercialised. But closer examination shows that this belief is applied very selectively. If the animals happen to be good to eat, it's a different story.

The eel is a case in point. Late last year the Department of Conservation issued three concessions for commercial fishers to take eels from rivers located in the West Coast Tai Poutini Conservancy.

DoC would never dream of allowing commercial hunters to kill even the most common birds or reptiles, so what is different about eels living within the conservation estate?

Is there a justifiable difference, or is this an example of institutional hypocrisy?

There also seems to be no impediment to the "captive" propagation of native plants, even though the widespread growing of certain species outside their natural range may have implications for the local flora regarding possible hybridisation.

So why is captive breeding and sale of our lizards so unthinkable?

Satisfying demand from existing captive stocks is in my view quite possible, and allowing for a commercial return is likely to attract financial investment in improving husbandry methods at a far greater rate than is possible for amateur hobbyists.

Whatever happens, continuing land development and the proliferation of introduced predators means that wild populations of these little-known animals are coming under increasing pressure, the protective measures in place are inadequate, and our conservation authorities are under-resourced.

It would be sad to have species becoming extinct, without some lateral thinking and thorough investigation of all viable alternatives.

* Rod Rowlands is a keeper and breeder of New Zealand geckos in Waitakere City.