Two decades and going: the story of Heloderma charlesbogerti at Zoo Atlanta

Hill, Robert L.

rhill@zooatlanta.org

Department of Herpetology

Zoo Atlanta

Atlanta, Georgia USA

Zoo Atlanta first acquired specimens of the Guatemalan Beaded Lizard (Heloderma charlesbogerti) in the year 2000. This presentation will cover every stage of the zoo’s involvement with this critically endangered reptile. There were many challenges to managing this species in the beginning, not the least of which was getting the first successful hatching at Zoo Atlanta in 2012. That first success led to a cascade of successful reproductions that eventually lead to the zoo housing the largest known captive population of this species in the world. Thankfully, these efforts lead to not only a large captive population in the USA, but an increased captive breeding population at the La Aurora Zoo in Guatemala through repatriation of zoo-bred individuals.