The IUCN reassessed the gargoyle gecko as Least Concern in 2021

The 2021 IUCN Red List assessment lists Rhacodactylus auriculatus as Least Concern, a more favourable status than some older hobby write-ups suggest. That said, it remains a single-island endemic found only in southern New Caledonia, so ongoing habitat pressure from land clearing, wildfire, and introduced predators is still tracked by conservationists even though the trade runs almost entirely on captive-bred stock.