Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 192520972

Conservation actions for the most threatened European vertebrate: the Aeolian wall lizard.

This project plans on updating and improving the biological data on P. raffonei thus assessing the threats and conservation status for each population. This will also allow the developement of a management plan for the areas where the lizards are present, and establish a long-term monitoring program to evaluate the efficacy of the implemented measures. By carrying out a habitat analysis, a suitable area, within the native range of this lizard, will be identified where a translocation of captive bred individuals will increase both the number of populations and the extension of distribution range. Together with the Fondazione Bioparco di Roma, the captive breeding program of the Aeolian wall lizard will provide juvenile and sub-adult individuals to release in these newly identified areas. Lastly, an eradication program to remove the invasive lizards from the islets considered suitable for the native and threatened species will be tested. 

The main criterion for which the species is considered critically endangered by the IUCN, is the extreme smallness of the area colonized by the species (<1.5 hectares). The release of captive-born P. raffonei individuals on an island >3 hectares would double the extension of the whole range of the species.

Project documents

• Poster illustrating the seasonal colour variations in P. raffonei hosted at the Bioparco di Roma facilities, presented at the XIII congress of Societas Herpetologica Italica,
• Scientifc study on the P. raffonei inhabiting Capo Grosso promontory on Vulcano Island, published on the scientific journal Plos One




Project 192520972 location - Italy, Europe