In Canada, the Pygmy Short-horned Lizard was likely already extirpated before the 1900’s. Some biologists believe that the local populations in British Columbia were never very large to begin with, and may have been representative of relict populations from a time long ago when these lizards ranged much farther north. As the climate cooled over the last 1000 years, these lizards were left in “pockets” of barely suitable habitat. Still, no one is really sure why the populations disappeared. It may have been due to a natural disaster or climate event. Or, another theory is that intense cattle driving and grazing in the 1800’s caused major declines leading to extirpation. During the Cariboo Gold Rush, thousands of cattle were brought into Canada from the USA through the dry valley bottoms that these lizards inhabited. Their natural defensive strategy of hiding in the sand would have been a certain death sentence as thousands of hooves stampeded over the ground. In any case, if Pygmy Short-horned Lizards do still exist in British Columbia, they would be extremely rare and fill a unique ecological role. However, even in the United States they are still considered rare, and they may be declining throughout their distribution.