Lygodactylus williamsi
| Electric blue gecko | |
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| Female | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Gekkonidae |
| Genus: | Lygodactylus |
| Species: | L. williamsi |
| Binomial name | |
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Lygodactylus williamsi Loveridge, 1952 |
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| Lygodactylus williamsi is restricted to a few square kilometers of Tanzania. | |
Lygodactylus williamsi is a critically endangered species of lizard, endemic to a small area of Tanzania. Common names include turquoise dwarf gecko, William's dwarf gecko, or, in the pet trade, electric blue gecko.
Illegal wild-caught specimens are widely sold in the pet trade, often misdescribed as captive-bred. Although L. williamsi breeds in captivity, the young require a lot of care, making large-scale breeding difficult. A captive breeding project and studbook was initiated by EAZA zoos in 2013.
The species was placed under EU Appendix B protection in December 2014, under EU Appendix A protection in January 2017, and under CITES Appendix I protection in January 2017. The gecko may not be kept or sold in the EU without documentation and permits, renewable every three years, and geckos must now be registered. Similar restrictions apply in some other jurisdictions.
This gecko's survival is mostly threatened by (entirely illegal) collection for the international pet trade. It is critically endangered and the population is thought to be declining rapidly.
Although trade in wild-caught turquoise day geckos is illegal, wild-caught geckos are commonly sold in pet shops. It is estimated that between December 2004 and July 2009, at least 32,310 to 42,610 geckos were taken by one collecting group, ~15% of the wild population at the time.
L. williamsi is only found in 8 km2 (3.1 sq mi) of the Kimboza Forest, Ruvu Forest Reserve, Mbagalala and Muhalama at an altitude of 170–480 m (560–1,570 ft). These are located at the foothills of the Uluguru Mountains in eastern Tanzania.
The subpopulation in Kimboza Forest Reserve was estimated at 150,000 adults in 2009. The size of the remaining subpopulations is unknown, but their size is not thought contribute significantly to the total population. The two known sites outside protected areas are tiny: one consists of 14 Pandanus trees (the rest has been cleared for banana plantations) and the other is equally close to disappearing.
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Wikipedia