History
Lloyd's Hedgehog cactus was listed as an endangered species in 1979
. It now grows primarily within Big Bend National Park and on large private ranches in west Texas, where it is protected from cactus collectors. Even so, there are still several sites within Big Bend in which the cactus is still captured by collectors despite the sites being monitored.The most interesting bit of history on Lloyd's hedgehog cactus is not its numbers in the wild, but that it might be delisted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service because it could be a hybrid of two other common cactus species (the rainbow cactus and a type of claret-cup cactus). When the species was originally listed, this was not known. Experimental work led by Dr. Zimmerman of the Drylands Institute yielded synthetic Lloyd's Hedgehog cacti by crossing the two parental species. This would mean Lloyd's hedgehog cactus does not represent a unique gene pool that may be lost through extinction. Hence, it would be removed from the Endangered Species list.
"The Fish and Wildlife service wants to be sure its decisions are based on the best available scientific information, and we welcome new information about the status of listed species. If Lloyd's Hedgehog cactus is shown to be a hybrid, it cannot qualify for protection under the Endangered Act," said Nancy Kaufman, Regional Director of the Service's Southwest Region.
