Earless lizard ‘loved’ to death

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is asking for a total ban on the international trade of an extremely rare species of lizard that most locals have never heard of but is in danger of being increasingly “loved” to death overseas as pets.

The earless monitor lizard – known locally as cicak purba – is so rare and is only endemic to Borneo, and even then it has only ever been recorded in Sarawak and Kalimantan.