News Blip:
Rangers at Saguaro National Park Microchip Cacti to Deter Thieves
The Arizona Daily Star Reports On A New Strategy To Prevent And/Or Catch Cactus Thieves Brave Enough To Cut Out The Thorny Plants At Saguaro National Park In Tucson.
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved through Arizona Daily Star's website.
The Arizona Daily Star website reports that thefts of cacti within the Saguaro National Park have grown so frequent that the National Park Service is microchipping the saguaros to deter thieves. Similar to the microchips used in pets, the chips have been embedded in 1,000 cacti in the perimeter areas most accessible to visitors, a small fraction of the 1.9 million saguaros that are the park’s main attraction. A record 950,000 people visited last year. The iconic cacti can grow to up to 50 feet tall, weigh up to six tons and live 200 years.
“Our biggest hope is that it's a deterrent; that people recognize that if they steal cacti from Saguaro National Park, that there’s a chance that we’re going to be able to identify that the cactus came from the park,” Ray O’Neil, chief ranger at the park, told the Arizona Daily Star. A saguaro can fetch $100 per foot, making them a lucrative target for thieves, but transplanted plants often die within a couple of years. For more information on Saguaro National Park, visit The National Park Service.
For the article by Tyler Fingert click here for Tucson.com.