Extinct in the Wild
These are more commonly called Lister's gecko. Since it is Christmas though, the name they are sometimes called is what I'm going with. It is also the name the IUCN has them listed as.
It is not certain why they have gone extinct in the wild. The most likely reasons are cats, yellow crazy ants, giant centipedes, and introduced invasive species (such as the Asian house gecko). There are other animals that have gone extinct on Christmas Island for the same reasons. There is a captive breeding program at the Taronga Zoo, but there is no way for them to be able to be released into the wild any time soon. There is only one native gecko still in the wild on Christmas Island, and their numbers are going down too. Until the invasive species can be controlled, all the small native species on the island are at risk of extinction.
Well, Christmas is essentially over. One of my favourite presents from my parents is a book my mom found in her storage! I loved this book so much as a kid. It is "Sesame Street Book of Opposites" with Zero Mostel (from 1974). Yep, it is a little kid's book. It is a picture book, with Zero wearing white long underwear, a top hat, a massive cloth diaper of sorts tied over the long underwear, a red neckerchief, in a couple pictures he's wearing ratty old sneakers, but usually just plain white socks too. He is goofy and so expressive. The opposites in and out for instance, he has as much of his hand shoved in his mouth as he could for in, and then is staring at his hand for out. For Near and far, his thumb is right up between his eyes which he's crossed, and then he's holding his thumb at arm's length squinting as if he can barely see it. All of them are over the top and always made me smile. That book, and a record where as I remember it Grover shrinks really tiny and walks from your toes up to your nose, or something like that, getting sneezed into the air or falling into your bellybutton or something. I am not certain that is exactly how it goes, but it is another thing I think of fondly from my childhood. What are random things from childhood that when you think of them it makes you smile?