KUCHING: Exotic pet enthusiasts are bombarding Serikin once again. This time around, the border market stretch is famous for the much sought after ‘tokay’ gecko, known locally as ‘Cokgo’.
The hype to own a ‘tokay’ gecko has spread like wildfire in Sarawak, especially with the high price of the reptile in the peninsula and the global market which fetches hundreds and thousands of ringgit for a single gecko which can live up to six to ten years.
A typical gecko, according to him, weighing around 50g is usually sold for RM150.
However, at the Serikin market, it all goes down to an individual’s haggling power to return home happy with a few lizard friends as the price can be brought down to the lowest of RM50, depending on the size and weight of the gecko. “However price differs if the customer wants to buy a pair of male and female tokays,” said Arianto adding that in Indonesia, one gecko weighing of around 50g costs one million rupiah, which is equivalent to nearly RM30. It is also learned through the internet that the local market price for a ‘tokay’ Gecko above 300g is at least RM25,000 in Malaysia while overseas buyers are willing to pay up to RM1 million for each ‘tokay’ gecko weighing a minimum of 1kg. Commonly found in northeast India and Bangladesh, throughout Southeast Asia and western New Guinea and is in high demand because the reptile has very high medicinal value. Local folk say that the presence of ‘cokgo’ is a sign of a peaceful and happy home.
Many people said that Tokek or Tokay Gecko can cure AIDS. There is no cure for AIDS so far according to World health organization (WHO). The rumor about Tokek can cure AIDS is not supported by any medical studies. Most people said that Tokay Gecko tongue been used in medical studies because of the chemical substance that can help to prevent HIV from spreading. That's why the price of this Tokay gecko depend on how heavy this animal because the bigger it is, the bigger it tongue will be.
The hype to own a ‘tokay’ gecko has spread like wildfire in Sarawak, especially with the high price of the reptile in the peninsula and the global market which fetches hundreds and thousands of ringgit for a single gecko which can live up to six to ten years.
A typical gecko, according to him, weighing around 50g is usually sold for RM150.
However, at the Serikin market, it all goes down to an individual’s haggling power to return home happy with a few lizard friends as the price can be brought down to the lowest of RM50, depending on the size and weight of the gecko. “However price differs if the customer wants to buy a pair of male and female tokays,” said Arianto adding that in Indonesia, one gecko weighing of around 50g costs one million rupiah, which is equivalent to nearly RM30. It is also learned through the internet that the local market price for a ‘tokay’ Gecko above 300g is at least RM25,000 in Malaysia while overseas buyers are willing to pay up to RM1 million for each ‘tokay’ gecko weighing a minimum of 1kg. Commonly found in northeast India and Bangladesh, throughout Southeast Asia and western New Guinea and is in high demand because the reptile has very high medicinal value. Local folk say that the presence of ‘cokgo’ is a sign of a peaceful and happy home.
Many people said that Tokek or Tokay Gecko can cure AIDS. There is no cure for AIDS so far according to World health organization (WHO). The rumor about Tokek can cure AIDS is not supported by any medical studies. Most people said that Tokay Gecko tongue been used in medical studies because of the chemical substance that can help to prevent HIV from spreading. That's why the price of this Tokay gecko depend on how heavy this animal because the bigger it is, the bigger it tongue will be.
Another benefits of tokek in Medicine is that it has anti-tumor effects. China experts develop drugs treatment organ tumors from the gecko, because the organ is able to suppress growth and the addition of tumor cells. The team headed by Prof. Wang from Henan University, China, shows that the active substance gecko not only enhance the immune system response of an organism, but also induces apoptosis of tumor cells (which kill himself) and suppress expression of VEGF and bFGF protein, factor endowments of developing cancer. Their findings were published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology. Gecko effectively utilized to remove malignant tumors, particularly tumors in the digestive system is used as an alternative treatment, namely surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Gecko has anti-tumor effects in vitro and in vivo; induction of tumor cell apoptosis and the down-regulation of protein expression of VEGF and bFGF may be contributed to anti-tumor effects of Gecko. Source:Pub.Med.gov, Medical News Today.
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