The project aims to recover endangered blunt nosed leopard lizards (gambelia sila) to remnant SAN joaquin desert habitat on the western edge of the california central valley

Despite being members of the inaugural united states endangered species list in 1967 blunt nosed leopard lizards have received little conservation attention and populations continue to decline with multiple populations becoming extirpated over the last 30 years. Recently fresno chaffee ZOO developed a successful breeding program for the species producing over 100 healthy lizards in only 3 years. Fresno chaffee ZOO also successfully initiated reintroductions in may 2023 releasing and radio tracking 17 animals. We anticipate releasing up to 100 animals per year throughout the current project and will continue reintroductions until 50 or more natural born females successfully reproduce for 3 consecutive years. In addition to producing blunt nosed leopard lizards for reintroduction we will install and automated radio telemetry system (arts) covering our entire 894 HA field site which will allow US to monitor released lizards through their entire lives. This arts will be the largest in the world at the time of installation. Information from the arts will allow US to learn how blunt nosed leopard lizards 1) use the landscape 2) what habitat features facilitate or block movement and 3) the dispersal capacity of these lizards. We will also examine DNA from both released animals and wild born offspring to estimate parentage and reproductive fitness (i.e. combination of survival and total offspring produced). Because reproductive fitness directly controls population growth we will adaptively adjust captive rearing and land management protocols to maximize reproductive fitness of lizards on the landscape. This process will allow US to discover optimal protocols for recovering the species applicable to additional sites. In addition we will experimentally test the efficacy of grazing with a newly developed breed of sheep (elgorriaga sheep) for controlling invasive grasses which dominate remnant blunt nosed leopard lizard habitat and negatively affect the species. Using the arts we will monitor how lizards use the grazed and ungrazed patches and we will determine if their reproductive fitness differs in grazed versus ungrazed patches. Expected deliverables include 1) written protocols for managing landscapes to promote blunt nosed leopard lizard populations and for reintroducing blunt nosed leopard lizards to extirpated sites 2) scientific publications reporting on all data collected and 3) novel computer code of working with data from a large arts. The primary outcome of the project will be the recovery of the genetically distinct population of blunt nosed leopard lizards at panoche plateau which declined to fewer than 10 individuals in 2020. In addition to recovering blunt nosed leopard lizards the project will benefit the residents of the california central valley by 1) preserving a species that only exists in this region 2) providing opportunities to observe the species in the wild and in captivity at fresno chaffee ZOO and 3) providing paid internship opportunities for regional students.