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A new endangered species has moved into the 65-year-old Debrecen Zoo.
Cave geckos have been added to the collection. The reptiles are part of a two-year conservation campaign starting in September to raise awareness of Vietnam’s vulnerable wildlife.
The Lui cave gecko is native to the rainforest on the border between China and Vietnam. Smaller and much rarer than the Lui is the Vietnamese cave gecko, which is found in only a few small nature reserves in the Southeast Asian country.
Both species of reptiles are highly protected and require special housing conditions, as they thrive best in cool and humid environments.
“We keep the temperature in the enclosure at 24 degrees Celsius; humidification is automatic every half hour. We try to maintain the highest possible humidity for them,” zookeeper Vajk Aszalós said.
These two cave gecko species were previously only seen in Singapore and Cologne zoos.
Both the geckos and the crocodile-tailed coatis, which have been here since March, will play an important role in the conservation campaign, which will start in September.
The key is to raise awareness about the conservation of native and exotic reptiles. In recent years, our park has also tried to bring in rare reptiles and amphibians,” Managing Director of the Nagyerdei Cultural Park Sándor Gergely Nagy said.
It is unknown whether the young geckos are males or females yet; it will become clear in about two months. After that, they can mate and breed.
Source and photo credit: Facebook (Zoo Debrecen) | dehir.hu
