Bangkok gecko watch

This month, Bangkokians are looking for geckos and reporting any sightings through Line to the Bangkok Wildwatch Online project. You are invited to join in. Next month, be on the lookout for the golden tree snake.

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The world is not just for humans

Anchalee Kongrut

For the Bangkok Wildwatch Online project, geckos are the reptile of the month.

"People think geckos are harmful. But in reality, they are peaceful and usually run away when they see humans approach. Geckos should be afraid of us, not the other way around," said Athipat Wusilpakit, a biologist who co-ordinates Bangkok Wildwatch Online for the Green World Foundation, a well-known conservation group.

Athipat Wusilpakit explains how the map of gecko sightings in Bangkok was compiled.CHANAT KATANYU

Last month Bangkok Wildwatch Online started an urban wildlife mapping project that highlights the coexistence of humans and animals in cities. The idea is to record the locations of "wild animals" in Bangkok: everyone is invited to mark the location through the Line application and submit it to the project, and those markings will be put together into a map. Each month, one creature is picked as the target for mapping. In June, it was nok tee thong (coppersmith barbet). This month is took-kae baan, or calling geckos. In August it will be the golden tree snake, or ngu kiew phra in.

"A healthy city is one where we can coexist with other species," reads Bangkok Wildwatch Online's statement. "Together we will create a series of urban wildlife maps, which serves as a regular city health check."

The gecko-spotting has received encouraging responses – nearly 200 reports since the beginning of July. They have been sighted mostly in the central districts, particularly Dusit and Phaya Thai, with surprisingly fewer from the suburbs. Every Sunday, the project publishes a sighting summary with brief observations.

A close-up look at the map of Gecko sightings in Bangkok. Green World Foundation/ Bangkok Wildwatch Online

Each creature selected as the target reflects the project's emphasis on the health of the city's environment. Last month Bangkok Wildwatch chose the coppersmith barbet, a bird whose presence signifies the abundance of shaded trees. The mapping of the birds showed how healthy Bangkok's green area is.

The geckos, nocturnal predators of insects, once lived in the dark nooks of trees but now find shelter in the darker nooks of buildings and houses. Perhaps because of its appearance and sound, the creature has suffered from an ominous myth. With bulging, binocular-like eyes and spine-chilling croaking, they are often associated with ghosts. An urban legend believes that anyone who hears the gecko's calling during daytime will suffer misfortune. For lotto gamblers, the gecko's clicking has been interpreted to predict the winning lotto digits. In short, it is a creature Thai people have lived in close proximity with for a long time.

In the eye of ecologists, geckos play a role in controlling the population of insects, a balancing act in forest ecology.

"Without geckos, we will witness the proliferation of cockroaches, rats and maybe small snakes. Then we have to resort to other means of control, such as pesticide," Athipat said.

But it is a very bad time for geckos in Thailand. Their hair-raising voice has faded because the Thai-style houses with trees and gardens that once provided the reptile with a natural habitat have decreased, according to Athipat. Worse, during the last decade geckos have been hunted as traditional medicinal ingredients and delicacies for the market in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia. The rate of hunting has gone up when it is rumoured, wrongly no doubt, that the gecko's tail can help cure cancer, Aids, rheumatoid arthritis, and boost virility.

Gecko hunting became a lucrative business during the last five years.  The gecko is in such high demand that villagers in the North have started gecko farms.

This is the first time there has been a census on the amount of geckos or any wildlife species in Bangkok. The overall numbers are less important, though, than educating the public to the vital role these creatures play in Bangkok's ecological health, Athipat said.

"We hope the campaign will change the attitude of people about this fascinating creature and its valuable role in the ecology. It is not a fearful creature. The presence of geckos and other animals reflect that Bangkok is not only a place for humans to live; the world is not only for humans. We are just a part of it," Athipat said.

Bangkok Wildwatch Online can be reached at LINE ID: @ngb3260x. To report the sighting of geckos (or next month, golden tree snakes), use the "Share Location" command in Line application. For more information go to http://www.facebook.com/gwfthailand.

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