German caught with 16 rare geckos
16-02-2010 By Mark Price, Otago Daily Times, New Zealand
A 55-year-old German visitor to New Zealand is in custody in Christchurch after pleading guilty to possessing 16 rare, jewelled geckos from the Otago Peninsula. Manfred Bachmann was carrying the geckos inside pieces of plastic pipe inside his backpack when arrested by the Wildlife Enforcement Group.
He appeared in the Christchurch District Court yesterday on two charges under the 1953 Wildlife Act and was remanded in custody for sentencing on March 3.
Investigator Colin Hitchcock told the Otago Daily Times the two were foreign nationals, but he would not say from which country they had come.
He indicated more people might be questioned.
Enforcement group investigator Stuart Williamson said nine of the geckos in Bachmann's possession were pregnant and it had yet to be determined if they had come to any harm.
"At this stage, they appear quite healthy.
"The thing we're concerned with, because they were concealed inside plastic pipes, was the stress factor.
"This sort of stress could cause them to abort their young or have stillborn young."Bachmann arrived in Christchurch on Sunday and was booked to leave New Zealand later this week.
"It is certainly our belief that the animals were destined to go overseas", Mr Williamson said.
He would not say how Bachmann's arrest on Sunday came about.
Because Bachmann was caught in a central Christchurch street (and not at an airport), he was charged under the Wildlife Act rather than the Trade in Endangered Species Act.
In January, 58-year-old German Hans Kubus was jailed for 14 weeks and fined $5000 under the Endangered Species Act when he was caught at Christchurch Airport with 24 geckos and 20 skinks.
"You can lay more charges if he was actually in the process of jumping on a flight," Mr Williamson said.
He believed jewelled geckos would be "more valuable" on the international black market than the brown geckos in Kubus' possession.
Each of those was estimated to be worth $2000.
"They're certainly attractive, unfortunately, to overseas collectors.
"The down side of putting a value on them is that it makes it attractive to every man and his dog to suddenly go out and start collecting them."
The 16 geckos are being kept in an "appropriate" container in a secure place until investigations have been completed.
The enforcement group consists of staff from the Department of Conservation, New Zealand Customs Service and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Mr Williamson said on this occasion it also received police assistance.
Doc coastal Otago area manager Robin Thomas said the theft was "a sad indictment on society really, that a greedy few try to exploit the wildlife.
"These are really special animals.
"They're rare, fantastic animals in their own right but the best place to see them is in the wild."
Mr Thomas said the department would be "very cagey" about discussing where on the peninsula the geckos had come from.
"I'm quite nervous about releasing detail for the simple reason we just don't want others to get a stupid idea in their mind."
Mr Thomas said to take nine pregnant females out of "a relatively small population could potentially have quite a catastrophic effect on localised populations".
He understood jewelled geckos on the peninsula numbered in the hundreds rather than the tens of thousands.
"They are in relatively low numbers in relatively discrete sites."
Mr Thomas said there had been "suspicion" in the past that jewelled geckos had been stolen from the peninsula.
"They are a stunning looking animal and relatively rare and as a consequence I guess the greedy covet them."
Mr Thomas said the department would have to take into account genetic issues and the risk of disease when returning the 16 geckos to the wild.
(Bron: http://www.odt.co.nz/)
(Bron foto: http://www.nhc.net.nz/index/lizards-new-zealand/jewelled-gecko/jewelled-gecko.htm)
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