Never tickle a Sleeping Dragon!

Literature depicts dragons as gigantic fire belching monsters who must be destroyed. While the Mexican alligator lizard (also referred to as the Abronia) may not breathe fire or fly- but these guys are famous for their colorful hues of green-blue that captured the interest of collectors all over the world.

The Mexican Alligator lizard has become just another animal in danger of extinction because of human activities.

In Mexico people consider them to be tree scorpions and are thus thought to be venomous, which means they’re often killed in fear. Additionally they’re solitary creatures so they proceed to bite with no hesitation which doesn’t help their reputation. The moniker “little dragons'' is also used to refer to them to help dissuade their concerns, and you can see the resemblance in the photo below.

One of the most fascinating things about them is that despite being reptiles, females give birth to live young lizards. Within one breeding season a female can give birth to up to 12 neonates. They consume insects, and while caring for them as pets they should be fed insects with a lower protein content.

Considering that the mini-dragons are for the most part arboreal creatures. They can mostly be found in cloud forests. Deforestation as a result of urbanisation affects their habitat. Additionally agriculture and charcoal production cause further degradation of their habitat- pushing them closer to extinction

Due to illegal trading, the little dragons are smuggled out of the country and can be sold for up to $2000. Smugglers hire children or locals looking to make money for a smaller price and buy 100-200 Abronias at a time, and sell them at a lower price and make more money than legal traders. They also manage to save more money on facilities for maintaining and acquiring the lizards. To further increase sales, traders in Europe used false permits or reused older permits to mislead buyers. However, to further help these little guys- 24 Abronia sub-species have been listed in CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) Appendix II to subject their trade to strict regulations. This means that more overseas buyers will be expecting paperwork to be delivered with the lizards and making it less likely for them to partake in illegal trade. Meanwhile 5 species are in Appendix I which means all trade for commercial purposes is banned. Presence in both these lists helps provide more protection for these mini dragons.

On the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) red list, 2 species are least concerned, 6 are data deficient and the rest are either vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. This means that some species could be extinct and we wouldn’t even know it, due to the limited information known about these reptiles. The mini-dragons have only gained popularity in captivity, so their population in the wild is still unclear. Additionally breeders will be more likely to use selective breeding to create specific color mutations for more exotic hues that will raise the value of the lizard. Not only does this destroy the original gene pool- it's also increasing the demand for the dragons which means that more people will resort to smuggling to acquire these unique reptiles.

Abronia Graminea being advertised for sale from a captive bred program.

We know that all sorts of living things are in demand for their exotic nature or the benefits they can provide, but often remain detached from the reality of these situations. Especially considering the specific habitat required for them, holding them as pets without actual knowledge could be harmful. A good way to help the fight against the loss of different parts of our ecosystem- is to donate to societies or agencies trying to help them. Click here to donate to a project that helps several reptiles including the Abronia.

By Alika Sharma