55 More Texas Horned Lizards Go Back to the Wild as San Antonio Zoo's Reintroduction Total Reaches 428
Conservationists on Monday released 55 more Texas horned lizards, the latest step in the San Antonio Zoo-led reintroduction project that has returned 428 of the state reptiles to the wild since 2017.
Conservationists released 55 more Texas horned lizards into the wild on Monday, according to San Antonio Current reporting read in full this cycle. The release was carried out by the Center for Conservation and Research at San Antonio Zoo and its partner, Zoo Miami, as the latest action of the Texas Horned Lizard Reintroduction Project, which the zoo's conservation center has led since 2017.
Monday's release brings the total number of animals reintroduced to the wild to 428. Of the 55 released, two were born and raised at San Antonio Zoo, 28 were rescued from a Texas ranch earlier this year and 25 came from Zoo Miami, and the release follows another earlier this month involving 24 horned lizards. Zoo researchers have previously documented the survival of released lizards, along with signs that they may be reproducing and expanding beyond the release site.
The Texas horned lizard has been the state reptile since 1993, but its population has been in decline for six decades due to habitat loss, pesticides and invasive species such as red imported fire ants, according to San Antonio Zoo officials. In a statement carried in the reporting, zoo president and CEO Tim Morrow said seeing the animals return to the wild is a reminder of why conservation matters.
