Lizard rescued from illegal exotic pet trade gives birth at the Cincinnati Zoo

An armadillo girdled lizard, one of five rescued by the Cincinnati Customs and Border Protection, has given birth to a live, healthy baby at the Cincinnati Zoo.

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CBP officers at a Northern Kentucky local express consignment facility held the shipment of animals coming from South Africa destined to South Florida in Nov. 2019.

The package’s shipping summary listed the contents of the package as “toy animals, t-shirts and markers" and contained stuffed animals, but while reviewing x-ray images of the shipment, officers and agricultural specialists noticed the shape of five live animals.

CBP detained the lizards and contacted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement wildlife inspectors who identified the animals as armadillo gilded lizards.

They now reside at the Cincinnati Zoo.

“Despite the awful shipping conditions of these smuggled lizards, all are thriving in their new behind-the-scenes habitat, eating, gaining weight, and looking great! Thank you to the CBP officers and FWS inspectors who always work so diligently to help find and prevent these incidents," Ryan Dumas, Head Keeper of Herpetology and Fish at the Cincinnati Zoo said in a written statement.

With the opening of the zoo, the animals will be part of the exhibit in the Dragons building.

The lizards have a gestation period of six to eight months, meaning the lizard who gave birth was pregnant when rescued.

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