Farah Pooters

The New Caledonian crested gecko or eyelash gecko (Correlophus ciliatus) is a species of gecko native to southern New Caledonia. This species was thought extinct until it was rediscovered on an private expedition by Robert Seipp and Friedrich Wilhelm Henkle in 1994. Though the export of wild crested geckos is now prohibited, biologists like Robert and Henkle exported several specimens for study before New Caledonia stopped issuing permits to export the species. From these specimens, different breeding lines were established both in Europe and the United States. More