Re: [Gecko] Naultinus elegans

[Racodactylus]

They aren't ever exported from New Zealand.  It's not a matter of CITIES, it's a matter of New Zealand not allowing anything to leave the country. The only legal way they are coming from New Zealand is for research purposes, and if they find out the allowed exported animals are being bred for commercial sale, all will be taken home.  Just look at (I think) San Diego Zoo's tuataras.  They are not allowed on display because New Zealand believes in order for proper research to be done, they can't be on display for the public.  There are even some zoo employees who haven't seen them! Naultinus are already quite "the money maker."  There are a plethora of reasons for their "rareness" but I'm going to let someone else answer that one. The to match your description of "the right person with the right connections" is a smuggler.  The right permits are scientific, and the animals acquired with those will not be seen. --Daniel