"Since the Texas horned lizard is a threatened species, it is illegal to pick up, touch, or possess them in Texas. Handling horned lizards is illegal even if your intentions are good. For example, if you help a Texas horned lizard cross the street or move it to what you believe is better habitat, you are in violation of the law and could be ticketed for your actions. Scientists are required to obtain collecting and handling permits from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department prior to conducting research on horned lizards." Link to source, see page 5
These restrictions are counter-productive. The underfunded government monopoly on repopulating horny toads may be one of the biggest factors in limiting their return. At present, the breeding program in Texas is severely limited to a couple of secretive TPWD sites and 3 zoos {verify this}. These breeding capacity of these 5 sites is limited because they have only one supplier for the harvester ants that feed the horny toads, and that supplier is tapped out. {provide source} We have scores of harvester ant beds on our ranch alone. Government needs to partner with private and commercial entities who can help out with the effort.
Commercial breeders could very well be the solution to the dwindling population of horned toads. I, for one, would be more than willing to purchase a few dozen breeding pairs and do whatever prep work necessary to ensure they have plentiful and safe habitat on our ranch. We're already doing our best to ensure that our thriving harvester ant populations aren't disturbed.
And if I ever see one crossing a county road, I'm sure as heck going to be out directing traffic until it gets to the other side.
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