Lost – and Found 

A type of gecko so rare that it was thought to be extinct – if it had ever existed at all – was recently spotted for the first time in 33 years in a remote canyon in South Africa. 

The Blyde Rondavel flat gecko, Afroedura rondavelica, was first identified in that same canyon in Mpumalanga Province in northeastern South Africa in 1991 by only one scientist. But researchers believed that after such a long period of the little lizard’s absence, it either went extinct or that the two juvenile male specimens the scientist spotted decades ago were actually a different species. 

As a result, it was classified as a “lost” species, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature registered it as “data deficient.” 

But those designations served as a challenge for researchers from the Endangered Wildlife Trust.  

“Having a species that is data deficient annoys me,” researcher Darren Pietersen told the Associated Press. “I’ve always loved the species that others wouldn’t study because they’re harder to find or obscure.” 

Darren and his colleague, John Davies, have been on a mission to figure out the mystery of the missing lizard for years. Recently, after waiting two years to get the necessary permits, they were dropped off by helicopter on top of one of the canyon’s landmark rocky outcrops, where the cliffs, which are over 300 feet high, can’t be easily climbed. They were there to see if they could find the gecko exactly where it was first spotted in 1991. 

The researchers only had three days to find the creatures, which are about 3.15 to 3.54 inches long when fully grown, before they would have to leave the area.  

“And when we did, we were elated to say the least,” said Pietersen.  

They saw 20 to 30 of the geckos and were able to capture and photograph seven for the world to see. Now, the Endangered Wildlife Trust says the data collected should be enough to confirm the Blyde Rondavel gecko as a distinct species. 

The gecko’s rediscovery is part of the Trust’s expanded approach to implement biodiversity surveys to identify the “biodiversity riches” in “remote and poorly understood wilderness areas across Africa,” it said in a statement, adding that it was the fifth animal it had rediscovered in recent years include a sand-dune mole, a frog and a butterfly. “They all show how much there is still to learn about the world’s biodiversity.”