Popular sungazer lizards under threat from poaching
Wednesday, August 16, 2017 - 12:32
in Biology & Nature
The sungazer (Smaug giganteus), a dragon-like lizard species endemic to the Highveld regions of South Africa, is facing an assault on two fronts as farming and industrialization encroaches on its natural habitat -- which already consist of only a several hundred square kilometers globally -- while the illegal global pet trade is adding pressure on pushing the species into extinction.