Stowaway Egyptian gecko found in Lidl punnet of strawberries in Manchester

An Egyptian gecko was found in a punnet of strawberries in a South Manchester Lidl supermarket.

A woman discovered the baby reptile — which had made a journey of nearly 3,000 miles (4,828 km) — amongst a portion of the berries after visiting the Stanley Grove store in Longsight on Wednesday January 18th.

Nikata Moran, 29, said she had noticed something out of the ‘corner of her eye’ and when she looked again, she saw its ‘little head’ pop up from amongst the strawberries, when she opened her fridge at home.

Ms Moran said: “When I looked again I saw this tiny gecko, I couldn’t believe it.” She then put the gecko, which measured only 2.5cm (1 inch) into a tub and called the RSPCA who have rehomed it.

She added: “It seemed very alert, so I managed to get it onto a spoon and pop it into a plastic container, where it moved very, very fast. I just can’t get over the journey it had, ending up in my kitchen.” 

Apart from missing a ‘little piece of tail’, which should grow back, the lizard was uninjured. The Egyptian gecko was collected by RSPCA inspector Rachel Henderson, who said: “I have no idea how something so tiny survived for such a long time in transit in a sealed-up container.”

The tiny creature was then taken to Reptilia Exotic Animal Rescue in Ossett, West Yorkshire. A spokesperson for Reptilia, said: “Accidentally imported geckos are very commonly seen in the majority of reptile rescues up and down the country. 

“We have a few of them with us at the moment that have come from various continents. They seem to adapt very well to captivity and are seen to thrive in bioactive settings.

“This little one has settled in well and will be ready to be rehomed once he has passed his quarantine period.”

A spokesperson for Lidl, said: “We’re pleased that the gecko made it safely to Reptilia Exotic Animal Rescue and hope he finds a new home once his quarantine period passes. 

“We work really closely with our suppliers to ensure that the products we sell are of the highest quality, and can imagine that the addition of a little lizard would have come as quite the shock.

“We’re therefore grateful to the customer for letting us know, and can confirm that their feedback was immediately passed on to our Quality Assurance team to look into.”