Happy Earth Day from the San Joaquin Desert of Carrizo Plain National Monument. Those dirt areas are precincts of Giant Kangaroo Rat, a federally and state listed species. They help clear areas of the invasive annual grasses that dominate the landscape. Most of their habitat is now agriculture. 🌎

Hi Bluesky, figured I should give a an intro post! I am a postdoctoral scientist in the Conservation Science Department at Fresno Chaffee Zoo. I work on a breeding and repatriation project for the blunt-nosed leopard lizard (BNLL), a species that has been endangered since the inception of the ESA