No silver lining for the golden gecko

The golden gecko found in Tirumala is feared to be close to extinction thanks to increasing human interference with nature on the hills, where South India's most popular Venkateswara temple exists.

Fears for the survival of the gecko are also because of the guesthouses and cottages built for VIPs who love to visit the temple, flying down from New Delhi if necessary.

The Seshachalam hill ranges spread over the Chittoor and Cuddapah districts, of which Tirumala is a part, is home to a variety of rare endemic flora and fauna, which is why it was declared a wildlife sanctuary called the Sri Venkateswara national park.

The golden gecko, rarely called by its real name 'Calodactylodes Aureus', lives only in the Bairemkonda quartzite rocks on the hills and is reportedly not found elsewhere in the world.

The 1,200 year-old 'Shilathoranam' or natural rock arch on Tirumala, one of the four such bridges in the world, is where the reptile can be seen the most. It also lives near the last 'U' bend on the road to Tirumala, which was declared a national monument by the Geological Survey of India (GSI). Light yellow or brownish, it has expanded terminal phalanges that distinguish it from the domestic lizard. It confines itself mostly to moist rocky structures less exposed to the sun and therefore the heat.

Only 65 geckos were found after a headcount-cum-study was made by the Sri Venkateswara University's Zoology Department between 1998 and 2000 funded by the World Bank's project "Ecology and conservation of golden gecko in Tirumala hills and in some habitats of SV National Park." The shocking discovery aside, it was however easy to understand the part played by man in the geckos' alarming disappearance.

The increasing number of pilgrims visiting the less popular parts of Tirumala has disturbed the animal's environs and restricted its movement for food and reproduction, the university said in Tirupati.

The temple management blasted rocks using dynamite way back in 1940 to build roads and ramparts beginning the process then. Later, huge buildings close to the 'Shilathoranam' -the geckos' main habitat- only made things worse, the study said.

Powerful lights focussing through the night on the rocks at the natural arch disturbed the natural rhythm of the nocturnal reptile like reproduction, physiology, movement and behaviour according to the study.

Burning of non-degradable plastic bags and disposable cups left behind by millions of pilgrims in Gogarbham and the excavation work begun near the Papavinasanam dam drove the geckos literally out of their homes. The only silver lining, if there is one, for the golden gecko is the conservation work taken up by the forest department in the Erratlamadugu and Danamtheesina Banda areas deep in the jungle where the creatures may be safe.