Forced relocation of lizards

What should people do when protected lizards live in a new neighborhood? The city of Heidelberg in Germany chose flexible measures: Catching hundreds of children and resettling them.

The view land is actually not easy to live. Brown rubble, here are some rusty plastic or canned bottles, blue is "rare". All around no trees for shade. Stone gravel crunches underfoot. This tiny man-made desert is originally the place where the railroad cars of Heidelberg's main railway station are connected.

Experts of the Alliance for Nature Protection have to work hard to live around 800 lizards.Photo: IUS.

The wasteland has some of the best living conditions for many lizards: sunny terrain, countless hiding places, lots of spiders and nutritious insects. But it is not long: the city of Heidelberg and investors want to build a new neighborhood on this land. Aboriginal people in the region must give way to humans. But lizards - like all other reptiles in Germany - are protected by law. Where to go when not allowed to take them to the afterlife?

High-rise buildings for lizards: The space between the rocks is an ideal shelter for them.Photo: IUS.

Mr. Hartmut Müller-Falkenhahn of the Environmental Research Institute (IUS) has the answer. The landscape architect pulled out a satellite image. The land of the "train town" is colored in blue, with a few yellow lines next to it. These are also railway lines that have ceased to operate and are now "upgraded to ecological" to become a new home for lizards.

Actually, it's not that simple. Lizards also have some minimum requirements for living space. This cold-blooded species does not like to have too many plants, occupy space and not allow them to sunbathe. So, I had to cut down some trees and bushes, some places had to be cut off. Sometimes a wood sawing machine is needed to protect the environment, said Müller-Falkenhahn. Then there must be many "high-rise buildings" for them: stone or wood mesh baskets about 1 m high, spread gravel, crushed stones or sand next to them to make them convenient for breeding.

A beautiful lizard: Thanks to the unique color scheme of each animal, it can be reclaimed after many years.Photo: IUS.

Today is a nice hunting day for biologist Michael Braun and colleagues from the Alliance for Nature Protection. They caught 25 lizards in just over 2 hours. Each adult animal is photographed. Their color style has not changed, so experts can still get it back one after another. Each lizard has its own "level" . After entering the books, they travel by car to their new homeland, 1 km away.

A total of 800 lizards must be removed, a lot of work for Mr. Braun and his colleagues.