Anyone care for a plate of 'tokek goreng'?

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.