Hunted for aphrodisiac oil, threatened by modernisation, spiny-tailed lizard population is declining

Native to the vast, arid grasslands of Rajasthan’s Pokhran region is a small, burrow-dwelling reptile that can often be hard to spot. The spiny-tailed lizard (Saara hardwickii) is India’s only herbivorous lizard found in the arid and semi-arid regions of Rajasthan, Gujarat and some parts of Haryana.

The lizard, found on hard sandy and gravel plains, lives in large colonies or lounges, but prefers the solitude of its burrow, each inhabited by a single individual. It is part of the diet of other desert fauna like raptors, desert foxes and snakes. The reptile is diurnal, spending most of its day basking and foraging, and returning to its burrow at sunset for safety.

While burrows offer safety from predator fauna, they are accessible to poachers and hunters. “This one was dug by poachers,” says wildlife conservationist Radheshyam Bishnoi, sitting next to a freshly dug burrow in one such lizard colony in Pokhran’s Bhadariya Oran.

Locally known as “sanda” or “sandho”, the spiny-tailed lizard is endowed with a distinct, fat tail covered in sharp spines, where it stores fat for its long hibernation season – an evolutionary strategy to survive in the arid ecosystem. However, the very tail that is crucial to the lizard’s survival also attracts hunters and poachers.

Despite being listed...

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