Save the Valley Dragons! Restoring the Blunt-Notes Leopard Lizard to the San Joaquin Desert with Dr. Michael Telemeco and Dr. Michael Westphal

Who knew there was a desert in the San Joaquin Valley inhabited by the “valley dragon,” aka, the “blunt-nosed leopard lizard.”  The lizards have disappeared from 85% of their historical range as a result of  agriculture, rural and urban development and pesticides, and are now threatened in what remains of the San Joaquin Desert.  The Fresno Chaffee Zoo is raising leopard lizards and releasing them back into the wild, equipped with radio telemetry backpacks.  Join host Ronnie Lipschutz on Sunday, August 31^st for a conversation about the desert and the lizards, with guests Dr. Rory Telemeco, Research Director at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, and Dr. Michael Westphal, from the Bureau of Land Management.