By the San Antonio Zoo
Across the grasslands, brush country and rocky landscapes of Texas lives one of the state’s most iconic reptiles, the Texas horned lizard. Often called a horny toad, this remarkable species is known for its spiky appearance, incredible camouflage and unique defenses that have helped it survive in harsh environments for thousands of years.
Texas horned lizards have long been an important symbol of Texas wildlife and natural heritage. They were even named the official state reptile of Texas in 1993.
Despite their reputation and resilience, Texas horned lizards have faced dramatic population declines due to habitat loss, invasive species, urbanization and other human-caused challenges. Today, conservationists are working to help restore these beloved reptiles to the wild, and recent discoveries are offering exciting new hope for the species.
Texas horned lizard characteristics
The Texas horned lizard is one of the most recognizable reptiles in North America. Adult horned lizards grow to only a few inches long, but their spiky appearance, specialized adaptations and unusual behaviors have made them legendary across the Southwest.
They’re dietary specialists, feeding primarily on native red harvester ants found throughout much of their habitat range. Specialized scales along their bodies even allow them to collect water from rain and dew, helping them survive in harsh, dry environments.
Their greatest defense, however, is camouflage. Horned lizards blend almost perfectly into the landscape, helping them avoid predators. When threatened, they can puff up their bodies to appear larger, and in extraordinary situations, they can even shoot blood from tissues around their eyes to deter predators like coyotes.
An ancient reptile faces modern threats
Despite these incredible adaptations, Texas horned lizards have struggled to survive rapid environmental changes caused by people.
Urbanization across Texas dramatically reduced suitable habitat beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Expanding road systems fragmented populations, while pesticide use reduced native insect populations that horned lizards rely on for food.
At the same time, nonnative red imported fire ants spread aggressively throughout Texas. Unlike native harvester ants, horned lizards cannot safely eat fire ants, and the invasive species can attack vulnerable hatchlings and eggs.
As native habitats disappeared and invasive species and nonnative plants spread, horned lizard populations declined sharply across the state.
Breeding and raising horned lizards at San Antonio Zoo
Restoring Texas horned lizards to the wild begins long before the animals are released into native habitat. At San Antonio Zoo’s Center for Conservation & Research, conservationists carefully breed horned lizards and raise the hatchlings during their earliest and most vulnerable stages of life to give them a better chance at survival in the wild.
The process begins with managed breeding efforts that support healthy and genetically diverse populations. Eggs are incubated under carefully controlled conditions, where temperature and humidity are closely monitored to give hatchlings the best possible start.
Once the young lizards hatch, animal care specialists provide precise environments that support healthy growth and natural behaviors. Hatchlings receive specialized diets, proper lighting and carefully maintained habitats while researchers monitor their health and development.
As the lizards mature, the goal is to prepare them for life in the wild. Researchers study growth rates, behavior and overall condition to help determine when animals are ready for release into native Texas ecosystems.
Once released, the work continues. Researchers monitor reintroduced horned lizards in the field to better understand survival, movement patterns, habitat use and long-term success. This combination of conservation breeding, field science and habitat restoration is helping provide a future for one of Texas’ most recognizable reptiles.
Rediscovering horned lizards in the wild
To help reverse the species’ decline, San Antonio Zoo’s Center for Conservation & Research has spent years working collaboratively with partners and private landowners to reintroduce Texas horned lizards into suitable native habitats.
Recently, the center’s researchers celebrated a major milestone: horned lizards released into the wild are surviving and potentially reproducing naturally.
During routine field monitoring, a team member stopped briefly to collect a small sample as part of ongoing genetic tracking efforts. As the collection container was set down in the grass, something unexpected appeared nearby.
Careful observation revealed a perfectly camouflaged Texas horned lizard hidden just inches away in the vegetation. The animal turned out to be one hatched at San Antonio Zoo in 2025 and released only months earlier. The discovery marked a confirmed rediscovery of a zoo-born horned lizard from that cohort surviving in the wild.
Days later, researchers rediscovered another horned lizard, a female hatched in 2024 that had survived independently for more than a year. Even more encouraging, she was located nearly a third of a mile from her original release site, demonstrating these reptiles are naturally dispersing across the landscape and adapting to suitable habitat.
A possible breakthrough for horned lizards
Then came a third discovery that may prove even more significant.
Unlike the previous rediscoveries, researchers could not match the lizard’s unique belly spot patterns to any previously documented zoo-released animal. The finding raises the exciting possibility that this horned lizard could be wild-born offspring from previously released individuals.
If confirmed through ongoing genetic analysis, the discovery would represent an important milestone for the conservation effort: evidence that reintroduced horned lizards may already be reproducing naturally in the ecosystem.
Researchers have collected genetic swabs from the lizard and are currently analyzing the samples, though confirmation could take several months.
Together, these rediscoveries demonstrate that released horned lizards are surviving, growing, dispersing naturally across the landscape and potentially beginning to establish a self-sustaining population in Texas ecosystems.
Horned lizards’ future
The Texas horned lizard is more than just a reptile. It’s a symbol of Texas’ natural heritage.
For zoo researchers and conservation partners, each rediscovery represents more than a successful field observation. It represents resilience, recovery and the possibility of restoring a species that once seemed to be disappearing from much of the state.
There’s still much work ahead. Scientists continue studying habitat requirements, survival rates, movement patterns and the long-term challenges facing horned lizards in modern Texas landscapes. Community support also remains essential. Texans can help by reporting sightings through platforms, such as iNaturalist, reducing pesticide use, protecting native habitat and supporting conservation efforts.
But for now, these rediscoveries offer something conservationists don’t always get to experience — visible proof that recovery is possible.
Reintroducing the Texas horned lizard is about restoring a piece of Texas heritage and ensuring future generations can once again encounter these remarkable reptiles in the wild.
Somewhere beneath the Texas sun, hidden among grasses and rocky soil, horned lizards are once again living wild Texas lives.
Watch Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild’s “Radical Reptiles” episode to see horned lizard conservation in action.
