The West Coast Gecko is the lizard of the rain forest. A creature of the wet and the wild. At seven to nine centimetres in length, it is a medium-sized gecko, with grey to brown colouration and darker blotches and spots that provide camouflage among the moss-covered bark. The belly is pale cream, and the eyes are large and dark, adapted for night vision. A gecko that wears the colours of the moss. This is a gecko of the dripping forest. The West Coast Gecko is found only on the West Coast of the South Island, in beech and podocarp forests, scrublands, and regenerating bush. It is a nocturnal species, hiding under bark and in crevices during the day, emerging at night to hunt insects among the leaves and branches. A lizard that lives where the rain never stops. Biologically, the West Coast Gecko is a viviparous species, giving birth to live young. Females produce one or two offspring each year, a slow reproductive rate that makes the species vulnerable to population decline. The young are born in late summer and are miniature versions of the adults, independent from birth. A slow return. A long wait. The West Coast Gecko is threatened by habitat loss and predation. Its restricted range makes it vulnerable to localised threats, and its population is declining. The forest is being logged. The predators are moving in. The gecko has nowhere else to go. To see a West Coast Gecko is to see a lizard of the rain forest, a creature of the wet and the wild. Its blotched pattern is a reminder of the moss and the rain, of the ancient forests of the West Coast. The forest is wet. The moss hangs from the branches. The gecko hides under the bark, waiting for night. It does not know the forest is shrinking. It does not know the predators are coming. It just waits. That is all it can do.