As most of us know, Tokays are collected for various reasons, most notably Chinese medicine. This is something that interests me in a few ways but mostly from a cultural standpoint. Having seen first hand the way people think of animals in Cambodia I can see how such practices are acceptable. They simply view animals in a different way to the western world. I also understand that if given the choice between animal welfare and being able to make a healthy living for some it is a very easy choice to make.
One thing I will NEVER understand though is why, when these gecko's are worth so much money, are they kept in such terrible conditions?
I have recently had a couple of e.mails from an Indonesian man who asked me the morph of a specific Tokay from some particularly bad photo's. He explained that he had purchased the animal for a lot of money to keep as a pet.
Looking at the pictures the animal appeared incredibly dirty. I asked for some pictures of it cleaned up as I couldn't quite tell if it was pigment or dirt. It certainly didn't look like pigment! It appeared to be a very dirty leucistic Tokay with blue/grey eyes.
A few days later he e.mailed me some more pictures of the same animal but dead. It had arrived dead and he said it was packaged very badly. It's feed/ankles were all cut and messed up and what appeared to be pigment may well have been damage to the skin through infection or some other cause.
So why when this animal is worth so much money, is it not cared for? Why do they not put the time in to learning how to care properly for these animals?
I spoke to a Tokay trader in the Phillipenes who claimed he had gotten rich from buying and selling Tokays. He had put his kids through school, bought a house/car and seemed to have it made. He also sent me some pictures of his Tokays and their "enclosures". They were being kept in chicken wire "cages" and were absolutely filthy. Males kept with males who had obvious war wounds. Basically all round appalling conditions. When I questioned him on why he doesn't look after his investments he could not give me a straight answer.
It is very sad but I would like to think that these animals are cared for before they are killed and harvested but it seems people never cease to amaze me.
One thing I will NEVER understand though is why, when these gecko's are worth so much money, are they kept in such terrible conditions?
I have recently had a couple of e.mails from an Indonesian man who asked me the morph of a specific Tokay from some particularly bad photo's. He explained that he had purchased the animal for a lot of money to keep as a pet.
Looking at the pictures the animal appeared incredibly dirty. I asked for some pictures of it cleaned up as I couldn't quite tell if it was pigment or dirt. It certainly didn't look like pigment! It appeared to be a very dirty leucistic Tokay with blue/grey eyes.
A few days later he e.mailed me some more pictures of the same animal but dead. It had arrived dead and he said it was packaged very badly. It's feed/ankles were all cut and messed up and what appeared to be pigment may well have been damage to the skin through infection or some other cause.
So why when this animal is worth so much money, is it not cared for? Why do they not put the time in to learning how to care properly for these animals?
I spoke to a Tokay trader in the Phillipenes who claimed he had gotten rich from buying and selling Tokays. He had put his kids through school, bought a house/car and seemed to have it made. He also sent me some pictures of his Tokays and their "enclosures". They were being kept in chicken wire "cages" and were absolutely filthy. Males kept with males who had obvious war wounds. Basically all round appalling conditions. When I questioned him on why he doesn't look after his investments he could not give me a straight answer.
It is very sad but I would like to think that these animals are cared for before they are killed and harvested but it seems people never cease to amaze me.
