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Environment and Disaster Management › Species in news
हिन्दी — Read in HindiReptiles, amphibians and fish
Reptiles, amphibians and fish in the news, with their range, their status and the threats they face.
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A bauxite mine threatens the rediscovered Jeypore ground gecko in Odisha's Balda hills
Copy link to A bauxite mine threatens the rediscovered Jeypore ground gecko in Odisha's Balda hillsBriefPrelims31 Oct 2026
Species card
Jeypore ground gecko
- Scientific name: Cyrtodactylus jeyporensis, described in 1878 and presumed extinct for 130 years until its rediscovery in 2010 in Koraput, Odisha.
- IUCN Red List: Endangered. CITES: Appendix II, listed at CoP19 in 2022 on India's proposal to stop its trafficking. (Endangered)
- Habitat: under boulders on forested hills of the Eastern Ghats, in a fragmented range across southern Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh, none of it protected.
- Threats: bauxite mining and collection for the pet trade.
The news
- Only four geckos have been recorded in the past year in the Balda hills of Odisha, inside the site of a proposed opencast bauxite mine in the Nageswari reserve forest.
- The Bondo, a particularly vulnerable tribal group, and the Porja have protested for two years. The State has still not recognised their forest rights claims over the hill.
Exam lens: endemic to the Eastern Ghats, Endangered, CITES Appendix II since 2022; rediscovered in 2010 after 130 years; the Bondo are a particularly vulnerable tribal group of Odisha.
Sources
- The Hindu, 14 October 2026
- Frontline, 16 October 2026
- Down to Earth, “CITES COP19: Rare Jeypore Ground Gecko listed in Appendix 2 to stall its trafficking”