Anyone care for a plate of 'tokek goreng'?

Gin Kurniawan and Christanto Wahyu Widodo, Contributors, Nganjuk, East Java

Many people consider the tokek (the large, colorful,loud, tropical lizards sometimes referred to as geckos) -- as disgusting and frightening. But for some residents of Nglaban village in East Java, the ever-present tropical reptile is viewed as an income opportunity.

Lured by the high demand for its meat - believed by many to have medicinal properties - dozens of people in this small town have taken up tokek hunting as their profession, which is the also the main reason why its numbers are rapidly decreasing.

One of the main tokek hunters is Sudamin, a 43-year-old father of two, who has become a successful businessman. He is running a locally acclaimed food stall offering tokek meat delicacies on the menu.

"It's not bad at all (to sell tokek). Actually, it provides enough income to feed my whole family," he told The Jakarta Post at his residence.

He had never thought before of becoming a businessman, let alone a tokek seller. Now Sudamin is known as the one and only tokek seller in Nganjuk regency.

Before becoming a businessman, Sudamin was already hunting tokek in his spare time after working as a mason.

One day, he received a request from a businessman to collect as many tokek as possible in return for cash payment. At first, he could hardly believe that there were people interested in buying them.

"It's hard to believe that people really bought them," he said.

Every night Sudamin roamed the village, popping in and out of the villagers' homes looking for the 20 to 30 cm long creatures. And after they became extinct in the residential areas, Sudamin started searching in graveyards. And as time went on, he not only sold the tokek he collected to his business partner in Kediri but also cooked some for sale.

It was the starting point for Sudamin to open up his own business. Assisted by Winarsih, 35, he serves loyal customers his specialty, the crispy fried tokek and the delightfully delicious tokek soup, at Rp 5,000 (US cents 50) per plate. Each dish comes with four fried tokek. Needless to say his restaurant is standing-room-only every evening.

People consume tokek because most believe the reptile has curative properties for a variety of skin diseases.

"After eating the meat, sufferers of skin ailments say they were cured of these ailments," Sudamin claimed.

Now Sudamin buys around 5,000 tokek per day from his 15 hunters who live in neighboring villages. Each tokek is bought for a price of Rp 400. He then sells some of the tokek to his regular buyer in Kediri, who later exports the product to China and Korea in a powder form.

Due to the intensive hunting, the tokek population in the area has drastically decreased and Sudamin has begun to worry because his supply has been steadily declining in the last few months.

He used to be able to catch around 2,000 tokek every night but now he can only collect between 500 and 750.

"The tokek are to afraid to come to this area. Their population is drastically decreasing," he said.

However, Sudamin refuses to quit the business despite the circumstances. To keep his business alive, he also roams forested areas in Caruban, Madiun and Ponorogo. He even travels to graveyards in the isolated village of Bojonegoro to scour the area for remaining tokek

Prime hunting time is between 7 p.m. and 1 a.m. every night. According to Sudamin, the best time to hunt is during a full moon when the skies are clear and there is a strong breeze

"That's the perfect time because tokek usually come out."

To bring geckos down from trees, Sudamin only relies on a four-meter bamboo pole with a hook at one end and a flashlight powered by a 12-volt-car battery that he carries on his back. The flashlight helps him in dense, dark forests.

Since the nocturnal lizard's eyes glow in the beam of his light, he can readily spot them as far as 15 meters away and with great dexterity he hooks them down from the trees.

"You've got to be very quick and hook them down correctly to catch them."

Sudamin said to retain its curative qualities, the hunters must keep the tokek alive. He refuses to buy dead or wounded lizards.

He said the best ones are those from the forest or graveyards, which are usually black or gray-green with black spots, distinct from their cousins living in residential areas, which are usually yellowish white with purple or red spots. The black tokek seem to be stronger and can live longer after being caught, while the residential ones often die quickly while in captivity.

Apart from the meat, tokek skin is also valuable. Sudamin has also become an expert at extracting the oil from dried tokek skin.

"This oil is extraordinarily good for burns and skin diseases," he claims.