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The American dream of owning a suburban home has led millions to settle on the outskirts of Tucson and Phoenix; today, more than 80 percent of Arizona's swiftly growing population lives in the Sonoran Desert. This is bad news for the Tucson shovel-nosed snake, a highly adapted animal that swims through sandy desert soils and preys on everything from beetle larvae to scorpions. Its specialized nature and narrow habitat requirements make it vulnerable to habitat destruction from agriculture and urban sprawl.
ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE
PROTECTION STATUS: Not listed
PETITIONED: 2004
RANGE: Poorly known; believed to include only the tip of southern Pinal County
THREATS: Destruction of habitat from agriculture and urban sprawl
POPULATION TREND: Much of the range of the Tucson shovel-nosed snake has not been recently or systematically surveyed, but where surveys have occurred, they indicate a sharp decline.
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SAVING THE TUCSON SHOVEL-NOSED SNAKE
At 17 inches or less, the Tucson shovel-nosed snake may be small, but it makes the most out of its size. Living in the sandy soils found on valley floors in the upper Sonoran Desert, the snake has adapted to swim through sandy desert soils using its spade-shaped mouth. It deftly captures and restrains scorpions, which it includes among its primary prey. Dependent on specific ecological requirements in an area that’s been heavily altered by agriculture and urban sprawl, the species has lost almost three-quarters of its habitat in its core range. And once desert has been bulldozed for development or agriculture, the snake does not return.
To protect the Tucson shovel-nosed snake, the Center and the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection filed a petition to protect it under the Endangered Species Act on December 15, 2004. After years without federal action, in 2008 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife finally responded with a finding that the snake may warrant protection. While the snake is considered a priority vulnerable species in the draft Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan — and the plan could eventually provide some protection for the snake — most of its remaining occupied habitat is outside Pima County’s jurisdiction, so if the species is to persist, it needs immediate habitat protection on the federal level.
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Contact: Noah Greenwald
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