ADOT, other groups work to move chuckwallas for South Mountain Freeway

PHOENIX — Constructing a new freeway that will connect East and West Valley takes a lot of work.

Besides the actual construction of the new 22-mile South Mountain Freeway, the Arizona Department of Transportation has been careful to tend to any wildlife that might be affected by the roadwork.

ADOT announced Thursday they have been working with biologists to move chuckwallas from the southwest corner of the South Mountain Park/Preserve.

(Photo courtesy Arizona Department of Transportation)

Chuckwallas, large lizards commonly found in the country’s southwest region and northern Mexico, include orange-tailed males unique to the South Mountain Park/Preserve.

The lizards hide in cracks between rocks when they feel threatened, so ADOT, the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the Gila River Indian Community’s Department of Environmental Quality and South Mountain Park/Preserve have been getting in rocks to relocate the animals that can grow up to 15 inches long.

“With the work that we are doing in collaboration with our partners, we believe the chuckwalla population will continue to thrive in the area surrounding the South Mountain Freeway,” said ADOT biologist Kris Gade.

Almost 120 chuckwallas were captured and released several hundred feet away, ADOT said.

ADOT also weighed, measured and tagged the chuckwallas’ feet with white paint. Fifteen chuckwallas were fitted with radio telemetry harnesses so biologists can track their movements. All of them had a tiny transponder tag inserted beneath their skin to help biologists identify them during future surveys.

“The Arizona Game and Fish Department routinely works with ADOT to minimize wildlife impacts by highway construction projects,” said Daniel Leavitt, the Arizona Game and Fish Department herpetologist who led the department’s chuckwalla efforts. “That is why it is key to learn what we can about chuckwallas that may impacted by this project and safely relocate them to a new area nearby. Data collected during this partnership will be used to assist in decisions to help conserve and protect chuckwallas and other wildlife near the Loop 202 extension in the future.”

The South Mountain Freeway is expected to be open by late 2019.

Related

Mayich attorney: ASU hockey coach replaced phone after workout, hasn’t ‘done anything right’Donald Trump plans Oct. 14 rally in Bullhead City as Arizona votes earlyVandals target border wall contractor Fisher Industries’ Tempe officeLochiel protest moves to tree in Mexico after border agents clear U.S. cottonwoodsTwo arrested in burglary of MLB player Daniel Johnson’s Phoenix storage unitPhoenix police seek public’s help for investigation into deadly hit-and-run