Seven geckos stolen in break-in

Seven endangered forest geckos have been stolen from Whangarei Museum's Kiwi house.
It comes four years to the week after a similar break-in, in which rare geckos were stolen for the international black market.
The latest theft has sparked fears the geckos could be smuggled out of the country and Customs has been put on alert.
The theft of the four female and three male geckos includes Fat Albert, a male forest gecko who survived the earlier theft at the museum on July 5, 2006.
On that occasion two Northland green geckos and two forest geckos were stolen from the Kiwi House.
Authorities thought they could have been smuggled out of the country and sold on the international market.
Northland green geckos are believed to be worth more than $3000 each on the international wildlife smuggling market.
The market is worth an estimated $10 billion a year.
New Zealand's Wildlife Enforcement Group, made up of Department of Conservation, Customs and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry officials, immediately swung into action after the latest theft and officers from the group visited the museum yesterday.

Whangarei Museum and Heritage Park director Sue Walters said the gecko enclosure had had its security beefed up significantly since the last break-in, including a new 1.82m high fence, improved locks and stronger materials.
But thieves jemmied open the lock, reached in and grabbed the geckos.
Museum husbandry officer Elizabeth Adams was gutted by the theft, saying the animals were a valuable tool in efforts to educate people about the rare lizards.
"All geckos in New Zealand are endangered mainly because of rats.
"People don't normally see them out in the wild and we want to educate people about them and make sure they are protected," Ms Adams said.
The remaining gecko at the kiwi house would now have to be kept indoors at night in a building fitted with an alarm.
"That's sad for us, but sad for the gecko also because they won't be being kept in their natural environment and will have to be kept inside. It's just not safe to keep them outside."
Ms Adams said the thieves might have thought they were stealing the rarer and more valuable green gecko. She hoped they would return the forest geckos as they were not worth that much to the thieves, but were invaluable to the kiwi house.
She said it was surprisingly hard to feed geckos and they would not make good pets.
They were also likely to have shed their tails after being disturbed, which meant it would be hard for them to survive a winter away from the kiwi house.
"They store their fat reserves in their tails so if they drop them they may not survive the winter."
Whangarei police are investigating the theft and have carried out a forensic examination.
 
A spokeswoman said: "It is an unusual theft and people talk about these things. If you overhear anything or have any more information, please contact Whangarei police (09 4304500) or Crimestoppers (0800 555 111)."