Tokay gecko

"The baby blue and orange-spotted tokay gecko—whose creaky calls of to-kay provided its onomatopoeic name—have always been ubiquitous throughout Southeast Asia, southern China and India. The wall-climbing reptiles often reside in restaurants, gardens and homes, where they help control insect pests. In recent years, though, they have begun to be traded by the millions on the international market—and evidence is emerging that the species is in quick decline . . . teams have confirmed declines as high as 50 percent in China, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Indonesia, the Philippines and Bangladesh . . . A small percent wind up in Europe, Japan and the U.S. to be sold as pets. The vast majority, however, go to China for use as traditional medicine ingredients to treat asthma, diabetes, eczema, erectile dysfunction, and more . . . The recent observations of tokay gecko declines have some scientists and conservationists concerned that the lizards could go the way of the bison, passenger pigeon and saiga antelope—all species that were once exceedingly common but experienced massive population collapse—and in the case of passenger pigeons, extinction—as a result of overhunting and other human pressures."