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| Subspecies: | Unknown |
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| Est. World Population: | |
| CITES Status: | NOT LISTED |
| IUCN Status: | Endangered |
| U.S. ESA Status: | NOT LISTED |
| Body Length: | |
| Tail Length: | |
| Shoulder Height: | |
| Weight: | |
| Top Speed: | |
| Jumping Ability: | (Horizontal) |
| Life Span: | in the Wild |
| Life Span: | in Captivity |
| Sexual Maturity: | (Females) |
| Sexual Maturity: | (Males) |
| Litter Size: | |
| Gestation Period: | |
Habitat:
The Lowland Forest Day Gecko is an arboreal habitat specialist reliant upon mature native forest, with a high species diversity that includes tall, large trees with cavities, particularly favouring Scolopia heterophylla, Foetidia mauritiana and Hilsenbergia petiolaris (Harmon et al. 2007, Bungard et al. 2014, Buckland et al. 2014b). Eighteen of the 30 subpopulations occur in small isolated patches of exotic vegetation, which predominantly consists of Eucalyptus tereticornis, Haematoxylum campechianum, Mangifera indica and/or Terminalia arjuna trees, which are generally scattered and probably act as ecological traps (Buckland et al. 2014b). In some of these 18 subpopulations, geckos persist on one or a few trees, where their long-term persistence is not viable. The 18 subpopulations are isolated from one another by urban and agricultural areas where geckos do not survive. The other 12 subpopulations that survive in pockets of native forest are surrounded by highly degraded habitat consisting of dense stands of non-native invasive guava Psidium cattleianum, where migration between subpopulations is thought to be minimal (Buckland et al. 2014c). Mature trees supply cavities, which are essential for geckos to take refuge and lay their eggs. The reproductive season is usually between July and April, with females depositing two eggs per clutch. The mean home range size of adult males is 77.0 (range: 31.6–158.3) m2 and 26.6 (range: 1.9–67.6) m2 for females (Buckland et al. 2014b).
Range:
Once found throughout lowland areas of Mauritius (Rijsdijk et al. 2009, Buckland et al. 2014c), the Lowland Forest Day Gecko is currently restricted to 30 small and isolated sub-populations (some restricted to individual trees) from the southwest to mid-west lowlands of Mauritius (Buckland et al. 2014b). Of the 30 subpopulations, 18 are in small patches of exotic vegetation and at high risk of extinction, whilst the other 12 are in patches of high quality native forest surrounded by unsuitable invaded habitat (Buckland et al. 2014b). The area of occupancy is 156 km2, based upon grid cells, but the size of the individual subpopulations range from 0.006 to 1.0 km2 with a combined area of 10.3 km2 (Buckland et al. 2014c). The extent of occurrence is 294.5 km2. Elevation is from sea level to 420 m. Predictive modelling suggests a suitable range of 186 km2 (Buckland et al. 2014a), however, surveys within other areas where subpopulations may exist have failed to detect them. An introduced population in Oahu, Hawaii (US) was first recorded in the mid-1980s and is established in three localised suburban areas of Kailua, Kaneohe and Makiki (McKeown 1996, Lever 2003).
Conservation:
The gecko occurs in lower part of Black River Gorges National Park, which is protected. Following the recommendations of Buckland et al. (2014b,c), plans are in place to harvest geckos from across as many subpopulations as possible in the next five years for captive breeding in Mauritius and at Jersey Zoo to maximise genetic variation for translocation to a protected and invasive predator-free offshore island (Round Island Management Plan 2019–2025). Habitat is currently being restored on the Closed Island Nature Reserve, Round Island (2.19 km2) with the specific goal of supporting a viable population of lowland forest day geckos. Other Nature Reserve Islands that are under restoration management, such as Gunner’s Quoin 0.70 (km2) and Ile aux Aigrettes (0.26 km2) are also considered as potential release locations.
The species is listed in CITES Appendix II.
The species is listed in CITES Appendix II.