The zoo in 2020 joined an emergency action by the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fresno State University and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to collect the last seven known blunt-nosed leopard lizards from the state’s Panoche Plateau in the San Joaquin Valley to create a captive breeding program.
The United States National Science Foundation and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation has given the Fresno Chafee Zoo $1.2 million in an effort to help bolster the wild populations of the blunt-nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia sila).
The zoo in 2020 joined an emergency action by the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fresno State University and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to collect the last seven known blunt-nosed leopard lizards from the state’s Panoche Plateau in the San Joaquin Valley to create a captive breeding program.
California’s Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard Threatened By Warming Planet, Study Says
Since then, the Fresno Chafee Zoo has kept the breeding program going while collecting data that helps scientists better understand the reptile, which is an endangered species. This spring, the zoo is scheduled to release blunt nosed leopard lizards back to the Panoche Plateau. The zoo reported in 2021 that it successfully hatched and reared 19 lizards as part of its captive breeding program. The goal is to have more than 50 females reproducing every year. All offspring will be monitored after release to assess survival and breeding successes in the wild.
Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard Information
The blunt-nosed leopard lizard can only be found in central California at elevations of 800 meters and lower. It eats invertebrates such as grasshoppers, beetles, bees, wasps, and ants, as well as other lizards. They are known to jump up to 60 centimeters to capture their prey and are between 86 and 119 mm in length, from snout to vent. The coloration of these reptiles range from yellowish and light gray brown to dark brown with a white underbelly. Dark spots run across the back. The species is listed on the federal and state endangered species list. It is of the family in the family Crotaphytidae. The species is endemic to southern California.
