Chihuanhuan and Sonoran Deserts

Sonoran Desert

Epitomized by the stately saguaro cactus, the Sonoran Desert covers the southern half of Arizona and the southern tip of California in the United States. The Sonoran Desert borders the Mojave Desert in the west, the Chihuahan Desert in the east and extends south into mainland Mexico and the Baja Peninsula. It is home to diverse and rare species, including the Sonoran Desert population of desert tortoise, Sonoran pronghorn, Nichols Turk's head cactus, lesser long-nosed bat, cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl, desert bighorn sheep and mountain lions.

WildEarth Guardians works to protect the Sonoran Desert from threats to its diversity and beauty, including climate change, urbanization, livestock grazing, off-road vehicle use, border activities, exotic species, and other factors.

Chihuahuan Desert

Sprawling across southeast Arizona, southern New Mexico, west Texas, and Mexico, the Chihuahuan Desert is perhaps the most biodiverse desert ecoregion in the world. Its habitats include desert grasslands, scrub communities, woodlands, and riparian areas, and the Chihuahuan Desert is noted for a wide variety of cacti, rich bat fauna, and large number of bird species. Grasslands are a source of this desert’s rich plant and animal life, but those grasslands have been greatly reduced by brush encroachment, usually caused by human disturbance.

WildEarth Guardians has long worked to safeguard this fragile and diverse area from threats such as oil and gas drilling and livestock grazing.