Stolen geckos worth 'thousands'

Four endangered geckos stolen from a Whangarei park could be worth thousands of dollars to an international black-market buyer.

The geckos were taken from the Kiwi House at Whangarei Museum and Heritage Park this week and the theft sparked an international customs alert.

The two Northland green geckos and two forest geckos could be worth up to $3000 each on the international black market, the Northern Advocate reported.

The border alert was initiated by the Department of Conservation after two cages were jemmied open at the Maunu park.

The thieves did not open a third cage housing a forest gecko.

The park increased security for the forest gecko but the other four are one of the big attractions for the 25,000 people who visit the park every year.

Museum director Linda Wigley said the geckos were a part of the natural heritage the park had been trying to preserve.

"Now someone has taken it away, just like that. It's ruining pleasure for a lot of people."

It was unlikely they would be replaced.

DoC spokesman Ross Atkinson said the geckos were becoming attractive to people intent on smuggling species.

"Europeans tend to like them as pets because they don't take up room in the house."

It was also possible they were stolen by locals wanting them as personal pets, he said.

The park's Kiwi House co-ordinator, Kevin Saxton, said the stolen geckos were two female Northland green geckos and a male and female forest gecko staff had been encouraging to mate for the last two years, without luck.

DoC technical support officer Peter Anderson said the theft of the Northland green geckos in particular was "bad news because they are a threatened species".

- NZPA