Rare Cacti Conservation: The Hunt for Crested Saguaro
The Crested Saguaro Society has been searching the Sonoran Desert since 2005 to find the rare crested saguaro cactus.
These cacti are endangered due to the expansion of cities in Arizona and make up an estimated one in every 200,000 saguaro cacti in the desert.
The group has found around 3,300 crested saguaros, which are logged into a protected database to prevent poaching or vandalism
Volunteers are recruited to help in the conservation effort, but the group is still determining a way to evaluate candidates.
Members of the Crested Saguaro Society have given these cacti whimsical names and spent over 100,000 hours searching for them.
The group has declined to share their findings with researchers due to trust issues and prefer to share information in person.
To save these endangered cacti, volunteers must carefully transplant them onto wildfire-blackened hillside and ensure that they are facing north to avoid sunburn.
The Crested Saguaro Society's work is crucial to protecting this unique species, which is facing the threat of extinction in Arizona.
The group is dedicated to finding and protecting as many crested saguaros as possible to ensure their survival for future generations.
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