Tokay gecko

Description

The tokay gecko (Gekko gecko) is a nocturnal arboreal gecko in the genus Gekko, the true geckos. It is native to Asia and some Pacific Islands. This species occurs in northeast India, Bhutan, Nepal, and Bangladesh, throughout Southeast Asia, including Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, and to western New Guinea. Its native habitat is rainforest, where it lives on trees and cliffs, and it also frequently adapts to rural human habitations, roaming walls and ceilings at night in search of insect prey. This is an introduced species in some areas outside its native range. It is established in Florida in the United States, Martinique, the islands of Belize, and possibly Hawaii. Increasing urbanization is reducing its range. It is currently unclear whether the species is native but very uncommon in Taiwan, or whether the rare reports of individuals since the 1920s are based on repeated anthropogenic translocations that may or may not have resulted in established populations by now.