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IGUANA  •  VOLUME 12, NUMBER 4  •  DECEMBER 2005 277NEWSBRIEFS

Flat-tailed Horned Lizard 
Gets Another Chance

A lizard known for its dinosaur-like fea-
tures is back in line for endangered
species protection, according to backers
of the tiny, desert reptile. A federal judge
in Arizona on 13 September ruled that
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service erred
when it dropped the Flat-tailed Horned
Lizard (Phrynosoma mcallii) from consid-
eration as a “threatened” species eligible
for special legal protection. In a 15-page
ruling, District Court Judge Neil Wake
said the government “violated the
Endangered Species Act” by failing to
evaluate the impact of habitat loss on the
species when it withdrew a proposal to
list it as threatened.

The ruling means that the Flat-
tailed Horned Lizard will once again be
considered for threatened species status.
Environmentalists say that could help the
reptiles recover from building and other
pressures that have pushed it from devel-
oped areas like much of the Coachella
Valley.

Federal wildlife officials say they
don’t yet know the ramifications of the
decision. “Without a listing it really just
gets lip service,” said Daniel Patterson,
desert ecologist for the Center for
Biological Diversity, one of the environ-
mental groups behind the legal challenge.
“You can’t just go out and plow lizard
habitat into the ground,” Patterson said.

However, if the lizard were to gain
the special status, it could mean costly
new building requirements in its habitat,
including places like the Coachella Valley.
Listing opponents say the lizard litigation
battle is more about thwarting develop-
ment than preserving reptiles. Earlier
decisions by the Fish and Wildlife Service
to withdraw threatened species consider-
ation for the Flat-tailed Horned Lizard
were based on sound science, said Ed
Kibbey, spokesman for the desert chapter
of the Building Industry Association.

If the lizard were to get added pro-
tection it could mean builders would
have to compensate the government in
exchange for disturbing lizard habitat,
Kibbey said. That could mean anything
from setting aside land on a project site
to buying land for the lizard elsewhere,
he said.

The Flat-tailed Horned Lizard has
already been driven from much of its
local habitat, said Allan Muth, director of
the Palm Desert-based Boyd Deep
Canyon Research Center, a University of
California, Riverside desert wildlife
research center. He said it once roamed
around Snow Creek and other sandy
areas, but is now limited to the Coachella
Valley Preserve, a refuge in Thousand
Palms. “They can’t survive in developed
areas,” he said. “Too many kids, cats,
dogs, traffic, all those things.”

The lizard has been the subject of
intense legal and bureaucratic battles dating
back to 1982. In 1997, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service withdrew a proposal to list
the Flat-tailed Horned Lizard. In 2001, a
federal judge ordered the service to recon-
sider. The lizard was again proposed for list-
ing, but in January wildlife officials with-
drew it once more. “This species has been
the subject of a fair amount of litigation
over the years,” said Jane Hendron, a
spokeswoman for the Carlsbad office of the
Fish and Wildlife Service.

A proposed local plan to balance
economic growth with protecting the
environment was designed to ensure the
Flat-tailed Horned Lizard sufficient habi-
tat to survive in the Coachella Valley,
even without federal listing — but the
Coachella Valley Multi-Species Plan is
not yet in place, and some lizard sup-
porters say the government’s threatened
species tag would give momentum to
ongoing preservation efforts.

Wake’s ruling Tuesday drew praise
from the environmentalists, but it didn’t
outline what the government would need
to do to comply. The judge scheduled a
conference between the opposing groups.

Benjamin Spillman
The Desert Sun

Proposed Regulations In PA:
Bad News For Rattlesnake

Roundups, Good News For Herps
No two states handle wildlife manage-
ment the same way — especially reptiles
and amphibians. Even after the
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
(PFBC) reluctantly took charge of these
animals in 1980, the state’s 76 reptilian
and amphibian species and subspecies

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The protected status of Flat-tailed Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma mcallii) has been the subject of
intense legal and bureaucratic battles dating back to 1982.

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278 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 12, NUMBER 4  •  DECEMBER 2005 NEWSBRIEFS

remained an unwanted burden and were
continually tossed back and forth
between PFBC and the Pennsylvania
Game Commission. Whereas most fish
and wildlife create millions of dollars of
state revenue through hunting and fish-
ing licenses, reptiles and amphibians are
not so lucrative. Neither agency has ever
wanted to deal with them, so they have
remained largely unregulated in
Pennsylvania — until recently.

Pennsylvania is one of seven states
where Rattlesnake Roundups are still
legal (others are Texas, Oklahoma, New
Mexico, Kansas, Alabama, and Georgia).
Pennsylvania is home to no less than nine
or ten roundups per year, despite the fact
that the state’s rattlesnakes are a candi-
date-threatened species (Timber Rat-
tlesnake, Crotalus horridus) and an
endangered species (Eastern Massassauga,
Sistrurus c. catenatus).

Unlike the relatively resilient Western
Diamondback collected for most
Southwestern roundups, the candidate-
threatened Timber Rattlesnake is quite

vulnerable. Adults only reach sexual matu-
rity after 8–10 years, and only reproduce
once every 3–5 years. Research shows
Timbers may abandon den sites that have
been molested. Survival rates are well
under 25% for snakes released outside of
their small 1–2 mile home range. During
roundups, dens are commonly disturbed
or destroyed and snakes that aren’t killed
or kept often are released outside their
home ranges. After decades of roundups,
these actions have taken their toll. A sev-
eral-year study by state biologists has
shown 71% of Pennsylvania’s South
Mountain Timber Rattlesnake population
has gone the way of the buffalo.

Currently wildlife advocates are
working on a long-term project to com-
pletely do away with roundups. In the
meantime, the PFBC has come up with
a short-term solution involving new
roundup regulations. To roundup organ-
izers, these new regulations are a major
roadblock. To wildlife advocates, these
changes are a big step in the right direc-
tion.

Under current regulations, a $5 per-
mit allows roundup participants to take
up to two Timber Rattlesnakes per year,
regardless of sex or age. In fact, “heaviest
rattlesnake” prizes are awarded at
roundups, encouraging participants to
seek out and capture gravid females from
the wild. Under the proposed regula-
tions, Timbers will receive much more
protection. Hunt permits will cost $50
instead of five, and participants will be
allowed only one snake instead of two.
Females will be completely off-limits,
and males must be a minimum of 42 in
(average adult length of a male Timber is
41 in). Although roundups will still be
legal, they will be far less harmful to rat-
tlesnake populations.

Pennsylvania also leads the union
with more roads per square mile than
any other state. Consequently, the state’s
amphibians and reptiles have really felt
the sting of fragmentation and habitat
loss. Other changes proposed in the new
regulations aim to sustain many other
declining populations. Northern
Copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix
mokasen) will be given a closed season
and collection-permit for the first time.
A new permit system for Snapping
Turtles (Chelydra serpentina) will monitor
their collection much more closely.
Snapping Turtle changes came after a sin-

gle Philadelphia meat vendor reportedly
sold 12,000 pounds of Snapper meat per
year. Additionally, every other species in
the state is given extra protection with
possession limits being dropped from
two to one. Several species that have been
negatively affected by collection from the
wild (e.g., Eastern Box Turtle, Terrapene
carolina carolina) will no longer be legal
to collect at all.

Proposed regulations are being met
with fierce opposition from Rattlesnake
Roundup organizers, who make thou-
sands of dollars from roundups. In order
for the improved regulations to pass,
wildlife advocates who support these
changes must make their opinions
known to PFBC. Proposed regulations
are up for public comment from 15
October through 15 December.
Comments concerning the proposed reg-
ulations can be e-mailed through PFBC’s
website (www.fish.state.pa.us). Copies of
the new regulations are available at
http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Fish_Bo
at/rulemakings/175nprp.htm.

Jesse Rothacker
Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary

Eastern Box Turtle Regional
Conservation Workshop

28 September 2005
National Wildlife Center, Patuxent
Research Center, Laurel, Maryland

This was the first ever workshop that
concentrated on the Eastern Box Turtle
(Terrapene carolina carolina). Its goal was
not just to go over what we know, but
what must be done. The issues and
actions discussed do not just pertain to
the Eastern Box Turtle but all North
American box turtles.

New regulations in Pennsylvania will provide
protection for Northern Copperheads
(Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen, top) by requir-
ing permits for their harvest, and for threat-
ened Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus,
middle) and endangered Eastern Massassaugas
(Sistrurus catenatus catenatus, bottom) by
implementing restrictive rules on participants
in the state's rattlesnake roundups.

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A new permit system in Pennsylvania will
monitor the harvest of Common Snapping
Turtles (Chelydra serpentina) much more
closely than in the past.

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Presentations were given by Dr.
Kenneth Dodd, author of North
American Box Turtles: A Natural History,
on challenges to conserving box turtles in
the 21st Century. Dr. Richard Seigel
spoke about the importance of popula-
tion demography. A rather frightening
report documented the discovery of an
iridovirus that has been discovered in
wild populations of box turtles and
which has caused massive die offs.

Breakout sessions produced lists of
suggestions concerning further research
needs, the state and federal roles, educa-
tion, the problem of repatriations and
rehabilitation of box turtles, development
threats. and more.

Plans already are in the works for
developing a special working group on
box turtles that meets every two years.
(tentatively in North Carolina in fall of
2006).

Allen Salzberg
HerpDigest

Illness Threatens Turtles 
in Puerto Rico

A population of endangered Green Sea
Turtles (Chelonia mydas) is in danger of
being wiped out on the Puerto Rican
island of Culebra because of a tumor-
causing illness, environmental officials
said Thursday. Five of the tiny island’s
some 300 Green Sea Turtles have died
from the tumors recently, and officials
fear more could fall ill, said Carlos Diez,
a biologist with Puerto Rico’s Department
of Natural Resources and Environment.

The tumors, believed to be caused
by a form of the herpes virus, form inter-
nally and externally, obstructing the tur-
tles’ breathing, intestinal system, and
vision, Diez said. “Eventually, (the virus)
kills the animal, putting the species in
danger,” he told reporters. Diez said it
was unclear how the turtles might have
become infected with herpes, which is
usually transmitted sexually among
humans. Possible causes could be con-
tamination in the ocean, changes in
ocean water temperature, or problems
with the turtles’ immune systems.
Authorities are conducting tests on the
waters where the turtles live around
Culebra, an island off eastern Puerto
Rico, to check for contamination.

Besides Puerto Rico, Green Sea
Turtles are found around the U.S. Virgin
Islands, Florida, and throughout the
North Pacific. The species received
endangered status in 1978, although the
current worldwide population size is not
known. The biggest cause of the species’
dwindling numbers is the commercial
harvest of eggs for food, according to the
U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service.

Associated Press
27 October 2005

Grand Cayman Blue Iguana Twins
Hatch at Gladys Porter Zoo

On 22 August 2005, the Herpetarium
crew at the Gladys Porter Zoo in
Brownsville, Texas was elated to learn that
the sole Grand Cayman Blue Iguana
(Cyclura lewisi) egg that had been in their
incubator for 76 days contained not one,
but two, Grand Cayman Blue Iguanas. The
twins were connected by the umbilical
stalk, and both seemed quite vigorous. The
stalk was tied off and the two lizards were
separated and returned to the incubator.

After 15 days, one of the two began
to eat and, by three weeks of age, both of
them were eating well. They prefer vari-
ous types of red flowers, including the
pistils from Hibiscus flowers, which are
cut into tiny bits with scissors.

Although the hatchlings weigh less
than half the average for normal baby
Blue Iguanas, based on data provided by
Frederic J. Burton, Director of the Blue
Iguana Recovery Program on Grand
Cayman, their chances for survival are
good.

The egg hatched from a clutch of
eight laid on 7 June at the zoo. Three
eggs appeared to be fertile at time of lay-
ing, but only one developed. Keepers
noted that the egg did not retain the typ-
ical oval shape of a developing Cyclura
egg. Midway through incubation, it was
almost perfectly round.

This represents the first successful
hatching of a Grand Cayman Blue
Iguana at the Gladys Porter Zoo. The
female that produced the offspring is of
U.S. captive stock and, in previous years,

IGUANA  •  VOLUME 12, NUMBER 4  •  DECEMBER 2005 279NEWSBRIEFS

Caribbean Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas), such as this young adult, may be vulnerable to
a tumor-causing virus.

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The West Indian Rock Iguanas of
the genus Cyclura are, as a group,
under severe threat throughout
their range. As large island ani-
mals with no adaptations for deal-
ing with mammalian predators
and competitors, they are suffer-
ing catastrophic declines from
dog, cat, and rat predation, hunt-
ing, habitat degradation by goats
and cattle, and large-scale habitat
loss to human activities. The
Grand Cayman Blue Iguana is the
most endangered in the group,
with an estimated 10–25 individ-
uals surviving in the wild.

Eastern Box Turtles (Terrapene carolina car-
olina) were the focus of a conservation work-
shop in Maryland and will benefit from new
no-harvest regulations in Pennsylvania.

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280 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 12, NUMBER 4  •  DECEMBER 2005 NEWSBRIEFS

had been paired with Godzilla, the 60+
year-old Blue Iguana that passed away in
May 2004 (see Iguana 11:168–171).
Although copulation had been observed
and the female has laid eggs nearly every
year, none were fertile until she was
allowed to breed with another male.

Dog Tracks Burmese Pythons 
in the Everglades

A detection dog is sniffing out an unusual
problem — his specialty, Burmese
Pythons (Python molurus bivittatus).
Because so many non-native snakes have
been released by pet owners in South
Florida, the population of these snakes is
growing, especially in the Everglades.

Now, a one-year-old beagle, nick-
named Python Pete, is hot on the trail of
the snakes. Pete’s owner and handler is
wildlife technician Lori Oberhofer. She

bought Pete from a Missouri breeder and
had him shipped to Florida. “Beagles are
used around the world,” Oberhofer said.
“They have a great sense of smell.”

Oberhofer tests Pete’s skills often by
dragging snakes in a mesh bag through
the grass, leaving a scent trail for Pete to
track. “I don’t want him to get there
before me, so he is on a short leash. When
he sees a python, I can see him and I can
pull him back,” Oberhofer said.

His twice-a-week training sessions
should be finished by this winter, when
it’s expected that Python Pete will be
ready to spring into action on a regular

basis. Once he finds snakes in the
Everglades, they will be removed. From
the mid-1990s to 2003, more than 50
Burmese Pythons were caught in the
park. But with the surge in the snake
population, last year alone, 61 of the
snakes were taken out of the park. The
plan is to use Pete around park roads and
trails where the snakes are most likely to
run into people.

WPLG
Miami, Florida; 1 July 2005

Environmentalists Sue USFWS 
over Mexican Garter Snake

The Center for Biological Diversity is
accusing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service of failing to respond to a petition
seeking the protection of the Mexican
Garter Snake (Thamnophis eques) as an
endangered species. The Tucson-based

organization filed a lawsuit in an attempt
to get the federal agency to act on the peti-
tion it filed more than a year ago. It says
the Mexican Garter Snake has vanished
from most of its native range across
Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and
México, including the San Pedro, Gila,
Colorado, and Santa Cruz rivers. The
snake eats mostly native fish and frogs, but
also may eat mice and lizards. Biologists
say the snake’s decline is tied to the disap-
pearance of native fish and frogs and the
declining quality of stream habitats.

KVOA
Tucson, Arizona; 19 May 2005

Mexican Garter Snakes (Thamnophis eques) have disappeared from much of their native range
and an environmental advocacy group has accused the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service of failing to
respond to a petition seeking protection for the species.

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This one-year-old Burmese Python (Python
molurus bivittatus) was caught as a hatchling
in Everglades National Park and now serves
as a training snake for Pete, the detector dog.

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Twin Grand Cayman Blue Iguanas (Cyclura lewisi) were hatched at the Gladys Porter Zoo in
August 2005.

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