The release is part of an efforts with the zoo’s Texas horned lizard conservation program, the texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and other zoo partners,
The Fort Worth Zoo announced that it has released a record 617 Texas horned lizards (Phrynosoma cornutum) in 2024. The zoo worked with Dallas Zoo, Caldwell Zoo, Fossil Rim Wildlife Center and Pearland Nature Center to reach this milestone. The zoo also announced that 301 of the 617 lizards released into the wild were hatched at the zoo.
“The more we study and learn about horned lizard behavior, reproduction, and interactions with other organisms and communities within their preferred habitat, the faster we can decipher key factors for establishment of populations in new areas,” Diane Barber, senior curator of ectotherms said in a news release.
The zoo released the hatchlings at the Mason Mountain Wildlife Management Area. The release is part of an efforts with the zoo’s Texas horned lizard conservation program, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and other zoo partners, according tom a press release detailing the milestone.
The conservationists hope to establish a stable population of the species in the wild as they have all but disappeared from most of their range over the last several decades.
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“We are excited to continue to reach annual milestones and expand partners in our program,” Barber said in the release. “We would not be able to double our production of offspring for reintroduction efforts without these partners and the support of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.”
Texas Horned Lizard Information
Horned lizards (Phrynosoma sp), often called “horny toads” or “horned frogs” are quite possibly the most gregarious genus of lizard species in North America. Of the 15 known horned lizard species in the United States, the Texas horned lizard is the most widely distributed. Once abundant in much of the Southwest, the Texas horned lizard has disappeared from much of its range in Texas and Oklahoma. It is listed as Threatened by the state. This is due to a variety of factors, including loss of habitat, planting of non-native grasses, conversion of land to pastureland and agricultural use, and the introduction of the invasive fire ant, which preys upon the native ants that horned lizards require to survive. These little dinosaurs do not make good pets because they require a steady diet of harvester ants
