Congressmen in the Philippines are getting worried of the too much hunting being done to geckos by some residents especially in rural areas.
The attention of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources are now being called by some congressmen to take action regarding the wide spread hunting of geckos in the Philippines also known as “Tuko” in local dialect.
According to some officials the hunting of gecko in the country started when some of the residents saw ads in magazines and in the internet looking for geckos to be traded as exchange for a big amount of money.
It is believe that Geckos are being caught and traded due to its medicinal properties which are being bought by some of the pharmaceutical companies who are making ways to develop new medicines to cure specific diseases like cancers and AIDS.
One of the congressmen who is against this hunting of gecko is Western Samar Representative Mel Senen Sarmiento, according to him officials of the government needs to make a fast action regarding this alarming situation. He also added that he found out that some ads being posted to the internet are coming from agents of World Health Organization (WHO).
Authorities are now worrying that if this hunting won’t stop; this might lead to the extinction of geckos in the country and might cause an imbalance to the ecosystem.
Geckos are mostly found in warm areas and known to feed in insects like flies and mosquitoes. If such specie of animals lost in the wild it might give an irreversible effect in the environment.
On the other hand, Ang Kasangga Representative Teodorico Haresco is asking the DENR to save the Geckos from its total extinction in the country and added that they should look into the matter regarding the claim of Geckos containing medicinal properties.
As of now, Haresco said that there is no proof of gecko’s medicinal value so let’s stop the hunting of gecko before they disappear from the wild.