Raising hellbenders at the Saint Louis Zoo

The Saint Louis Zoo is raising over 180 Ozark hellbender larvae for eventual release back to the wild. These young salamanders, also known as "snot otters," were hatched by Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery in Branson, Missouri, from egg clutches collected from the wild. After hatching, they moved to the Saint Louis Zoo and are being cared for behind the scenes in the "nursery" of the Herpetarium's Ron Goellner Center for Hellbender Conservation. The program is in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Conservation and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

A Missouri resident, the hellbender is the largest species of salamander native to North America. These salamanders are perfectly adapted to their stream habitats with their flattened head and body, short stout legs, long rudder-like tail, and very small, beady eyes. The hellbender populations have been threatened by stream impoundments, pollution and siltation for years, yet seemed to do okay in Missouri and Arkansas. However, over the past 10 years, due to unknown factors, the populations in the Ozark Mountains experienced a sudden decline of 70%.

As part of the Saint Louis Zoo's conservation efforts, it has set up a room in the Herpetarium with a 32-foot-long fast-flowing stream where zookeepers can duplicate changing climate conditions, including rainfall, humidity, temperature. In addition to our breeding group of hellbenders, the Zoo has also fast-started youngsters from the wild. Some of these have been reintroduced to the wild over the years.

http://http://www.stlzoo.org/wildcareinstitute/hellbendersinmissouri/

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Hellbender
• snot otter
• larvae
• salamander
• Ozark
• stream
• river
• zoo babies
• endangered
• zoo
• conservation
• Saint Louis Zoo

[OtterPuppy]

ohmygod mudkips

[ohiobill2]

Keep up the great work! The world needs hellbenders.