The San Antonio Zoo introduced that it has launched 34 Texas horned lizards that have been captive bred as a part of the zoo’s Middle for Conservation and Analysis.
The San Antonio Zoo introduced that it has launched 34 Texas horned lizards (Phrynosoma cornutum) that have been captive bred as a part of the zoo’s Middle for Conservation and Analysis. The horned lizards have been hatched on the CCR this previous summer season.
“Our staff at Middle for Conservation & Analysis at San Antonio Zoo works tirelessly to avoid wasting species from extinction,” Tim Morrow, President & CEO of San Antonio Zoo mentioned in a press release posted to social media. “This can be a nice win for conservation and Texas.”
The middle famous through the launch of those lizards that 34 launched this week makes the full variety of horned lizards launched by the zoo’s CCR to 200. the middle plans to launch extra this month.
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Throughout the launch of the lizards, the CCR staff discovered two horned lizards that they imagine got here from a previous launch. Additionally they discovered scat samples that will probably be despatched to Texas Christian College for evaluation. The staff additionally discovered a sub-adult close to the discharge web site, which the staff believes exhibits that prior launched lizards are breeding efficiently within the wild. An grownup horned lizard was discovered on an adjoining property to the discharge web site, throughout a county highway, which the staff says signifies that the reptiles are dispersing. This can be a optimistic signal for the middle’s targets of increasing the vary of those reptiles.
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Texas Horned Lizard Info
Horned lizards (Phrynosoma), typically referred to as “sexy toads” or “horned frogs” are fairly probably probably the most gregarious genus of lizard species in North America. Of the 15 identified horned lizard species in america, the Texas horned lizard is probably the most broadly distributed. As soon as considerable in a lot of the Southwest, the Texas horned lizard has disappeared from a lot of its vary in Texas and Oklahoma. It’s listed as Threatened by the state. This is because of quite a lot of elements, together with lack of habitat, planting of non-native grasses, conversion of land to pastureland and agricultural use, and the introduction of the invasive fireplace ant, which preys upon the native ants that horned lizards require to outlive. These little dinosaurs don’t make good pets as a result of they require a gradual food plan of harvester ants.
