Tawny Eagle with a Spiny-tailed Lizard, Tal Chhapar

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The Spiny-tailed Lizard (Uromastyx hardwickii) is the only herbivorous lizard in India, and has a wide distribution in small fragmented populations in the dry areas of northwestern India. These lizards hibernate through the winter in their burrows and emerge in spring. In the arid landscapes they habitat, they form a significant prey base for predators especially raptors and small carnivores.

Things didn’t go as per plan for this unfortunate lizard emerging from winter migration in the grasslands of … Read More

Spiny-tailed Lizard Poaching, Desert National Park

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38 half-dead Spiny-tailed lizards were seized from three poachers near Beermadera village in Pokhran subdivision of Jaisalmer district. The forest department received information of a poaching gang catching Spiny-tailed lizards from their burrows. The department team immediately reached the spot and caught the three poachers and recovered the lizards, which had their spines broken and were packed tightly in bags.

Department officials state that the poachers cook and eat these lizards (considered a delicacy) after extracting oil (by burning their … Read More