"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has proposed to list the southern hognose snake (Heterodon simus), as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). FWS has found that the southern hognose faces serious threats from habitat loss and degradation as a result of land conversion and fragmentation causing loss of connectivity between populations, road mortality, invasive species (red ants, feral hogs, and cogongrass), and climate change."

https://usark.org/25esa3/

A 60-day comment period begins on August 29, 2025.

Comment and get full details at https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2025-16688/endangered-and-threatened-species-status-with-section-4d-rule-for-southern-hognose-snake.

The document is posted at https://usark.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/25-western-hognose-esa.pdf.

For more information, contact Christy Johnson-Hughes, Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, South Carolina Ecological Services Field Office; 843–727–4707; christy_johnsonhughes@fws.gov

While Southern hognose snakes are currently bred in small numbers by private breeders, zoos are not known to breed them. Conservation strategies should include responsible breeding programs, along with habitat preservation.