Project Obscurus: New Mexico Ridge-nosed Rattlesnake recovery

Holycross, Andrew T.*  

andrewholycross@gmail.com

The Rattlesnake Conservancy

Jacksonville, Florida USA

Natura Prima, LLC

Fountain Hills, Arizona USA

Arizona State University

Tempe, Arizona USA

Kamees, Larry* 

lkamees@gmail.com

The Rattlesnake Conservancy

Jacksonville, Florida USA

Kamees Ecological Services, LLC

Alamogordo, New Mexico USA

Crews, Tony Daly

The Rattlesnake Conservancy

Jacksonville, Florida USA

Rodriguez, Jesus Sigala      

The Rattlesnake Conservancy

Jacksonville, Florida USA

Universidad Autonoma de Aguascalientes

Aguascalientes, Mexico

Smith, Clint             

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Albuquerque, New Mexico USA

* Presenter

After over three decades of empirical study (conservation genetics, natural history, and life history) of the New Mexico Ridge-nosed Rattlesnake (NMRR), we partnered with The Rattlesnake Conservancy, United States and Mexican agencies, private landowners, and three zoos to secure a USFWS Recovery Challenge Grant. This grant enabled our partnership to take important steps forward in the recovery of this federally threatened species. Our presentation will provide a synopsis of the subspecies’ biology and threats to its persistence (based on the research that laid the foundation for this recovery effort), followed by a breakdown of each component of our recovery work, and the reasoning for its inclusion.  Project components include:  1) importation of 30 NMRR from Mexico to the United States to create a captive assurance population, 2) translocation of 12 NMRR from the Sierra San Luis (Mexico) to the Peloncillo Mountains (United States), 3) collection of one year’s body temperature data from six radio-tagged NMRR, 4) using operative temperature models to characterize and compare annual variation in thermal microenvironments in the Peloncillo Mountains and Sierra San Luis, and 5) coordination of public outreach and education work. Finally, we will emphasize the importance and rewards of working cooperatively with a diversity of partners.