Showing posts with label Ozark hellbender. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ozark hellbender. Show all posts

Sunday, December 4, 2011

St. Louis Zoo's WildCare Institute is Hell-Bent on Saving Hellbenders (Via Herp Digest)

St. Louis Zoo's WildCare Institute is Hell-Bent on Saving Hellbenders with the First-Ever Hatching of Ozark Hellbenders
Jordan Schaul of The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
National Geographic Daily News12/2/11

In 2007, the St. Louis Zoo's WildCare Institute announced that their staff herpetologists, including herpetoculturists, and colleagues had achieved the first-ever laying of Ozark hellbender salamander eggs in captivity using only environmental cycling. Although the eggs were not fertile, this was a monumental achievement for hellbender propagation and conservation.

Last month, after a decade of collaboration, the Ron Goellner Hellbender Conservation Center at the Zoo's Herpetarium and the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) officially established a successful breeding program for hellbenders with the hatching of Ozark hellbenders. Neither the federally endangered Ozark hellbender or the more common subspecies- the Eastern hellbender-have ever been bred in captivity. Missouri, incidentally, is the only state where both subspecies of hellbenders occur.
My first encounter with an "Allegheny Alligator" was in front of a glass terrarium at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. I had signed up for a graduate class in herpetology taught by the museum's Curator of Vertebrate Zoology, Dr. Tim Matson- a salamander aficionado and expert. So it did not come as a surprise that like other scholastic teaching venues in the organismal sciences his had a living, wet animal ambassador hanging around.

The accepted common name for our classroom's resident giant salamander is hellbender. In the vernacular you will find colloquial names like "snot otter", "devil dog", and "grampus"-all fairly pejorative names. At first glance they do look rather fierce and perhaps unsightly, but they are actually quite docile aquatic amphibians. Since writing about their close relatives, the larger Japanese giant salamanders and visiting them on exhibit here in the states, I have come to think of the cryptobranchids as beautiful animals.

A little bit of folklore and my own imagination lead me to believe that this bizarre amphibian species was a formidable foe. Having sustained bites from small, lungless plethodontid salamanders to bites from juvenile crocodillians, I was a bit wary of this unfamiliar herpetile where as my classmates questioned if it was actually alive. These solitary salamanders don't move a whole heck of a lot once they get comfortable.

Hellbenders can bite if provoked, but it is fairly rare. These salamanders, the smallest of giant salamanders, attain lengths of over two feet and have lived as long as 29 years in captivity. With skin that is brown with black splotches, the Ozark hellbender has a slippery, flattened body that moves easily through water and can squeeze under rocks on the bottom of streams.

Since 1981, hellbenders were listed as extinct or endangered in four states and remain threatened throughout the rest of their range. Endemic to the U.S., there are two subspecies as mentioned: the Eastern hellbender and the Ozark subspecies.

The Ozark hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi) occurs in riverine habitats of southern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas and specifically in two river systems. They require cold, clean water to survive. "Capillaries near the surface of the hellbender's skin absorb oxygen directly from the water-as well as hormones, heavy metals and pesticides," said Jeff Ettling, Saint Louis Zoo curator of herpetology and aquatics. "If there is something in the water that is causing the hellbender population to decline, it can also be affecting the citizens who call the area home." To ecologists they are barometers of ecosystem health-likened to "canaries in a coal mine".

Over the past three decades populations of both salamander subspecies have succumbed to anthropogenic stressors aside from just habitat degradation (i.e. stream impoundments, pollution and siltation) and habitat loss; they have also been impacted by collectors seeking specimens for the pet trade.


There are only about 590 Ozark hellbenders in the wild. At one time there were 8,000 of these highly aquatic caudates living in the Southcentral Missouri waterways. The Ozark subspecies has seen a precipitous decline-a 70% decline-in the last decade. Due to these drastic declines, captive propagation became a priority in the long-term recovery of the species. Fortunately, the St. Louis Zoo and the Missouri Department of Conservation were already trying to conserve this vanishing species through sorta situ conservation efforts.

"We have a 15- to 20-year window to reverse this decline," said Missouri Department of Conservation Herpetologist Jeff Briggler. "We don't want the animal disappearing on our watch."
In 2004, funding from private donors, the Missouri Department of Conservation, the United States Fish & Wildlife Service and the Zoo covered the cost of building sophisticated facilities including climate-controlled streams to breed the hellbender.

The hellbender propagation facilities include two outdoor streams that are 40 feet long and six feet deep. The area is landscaped with natural gravel, large rocks for hiding and artificial nest boxes, where the fertilized eggs were discovered. A nearby building houses state-of-the-art life support equipment used to filter the water and maintain the streams at the proper temperature.

In addition, two large climate-controlled rooms in the basement of the Zoo's Charles H. Hoessle Herpetarium are the headquarters for the program. The facilities recreate hellbender habitat with closely monitored temperatures, pumps to move purified water, sprinklers synced to mimic the exact precipitation and lights that flick on or dim to account for brightness and shade. The largest room includes a 32-foot simulated stream, complete with native gravel and large rocks for hiding. It houses a breeding group of adult Ozark hellbenders from the the White River in Missouri. Once the hellbender offspring reach 3 to 8 years of age they will be released back into the wild.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE LISTS THE OZARK HELLBENDER (Via Herp Digest)

U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE LISTS THE OZARK HELLBENDER AS ENDANGERED AND MOVES TO INCLUDE HELLBENDERS IN APPENDIX III OF CITES
Hellbenders are among the world's largest salamanders

Press Release, USF&WS 10/6/11 --The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today designated the Ozark Hellbender as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) and also finalized its decision to list the Ozark and Eastern Hellbender in Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). In combination, these listings will provide significant protection to hellbenders, both domestically and internationally.

Under the ESA, an endangered species is any species that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. The Ozark Hellbender, which grows to lengths up to 2 feet, inhabits the White River system in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. Ozark Hellbender populations have declined an estimated 75 percent since the 1980s, with only about 590 individuals remaining in the wild. It is believed numbers have dropped because of degraded water quality, habitat loss resulting from impoundments, ore and gravel mining, sedimentation, and collection for the pet trade.
Also threatening the Ozark Hellbender is a fungal disease, chytridiomycosis (chytrid), and severe physical abnormalities (e.g., lesions, digit and appendage loss, epidermal sloughing), which most Ozark Hellbenders exhibit.

In addition, the average age of Ozark Hellbender populations is increasing and few young are being found, indicating problems with reproduction or juvenile survival. This, and the multiple threats from disease and habitat degradation, could lead to extinction of the Ozark Hellbender within 20 years.
"The Ozark Hellbender faces extinction without the protection afforded by the Endangered Species Act," said Tom Melius, the Service's Midwest Regional Director. "Listing provides tools and an infrastructure within which partners can pool resources and expertise to help save this species."
The Service determined that designating critical habitat under the ESA for the Ozark Hellbender is not prudent because the designation would require publication of detailed descriptions of Hellbender locations and habitat, making illegal collection for the pet trade more likely.

To better control and monitor the international trade of Hellbenders, the Service has included both the Ozark and Eastern Hellbender in Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES or Convention). CITES is an international agreement between governments designed to prevent species from becoming endangered or extinct as a result of international trade. Collection within the United States and international trade of Hellbenders is of growing concern, particularly as they become rarer and, consequently, more valuable. Listing Hellbenders in Appendix III of CITES would aid in curbing unauthorized international trade, not only by controlling exports from the United States but by enlisting the assistance of 174 other countries that are CITES Parties in controlling trade in the species.

Currently, two [allopatric] subspecies of Hellbenders are recognized, the Ozark Hellbender and the Eastern Hellbender. The Ozark Hellbender only occurs in Missouri and Arkansas, whereas the Eastern Hellbender range includes portions of the following 16 states: Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Hellbenders are salamanders with large tails and tiny eyes. Adult Ozark Hellbenders may reach lengths up to 2 feet, and their flattened bodies enable them to move in the fast-flowing streams they inhabit. Hellbenders are habitat specialists that depend on constant levels of dissolved oxygen, temperature, and flow in their aquatic environment. Even minor alterations to stream habitat are likely detrimental to Hellbender populations.

The Endangered Species Act makes it illegal to kill, harm or otherwise "take" a listed species. The ESA also requires all federal agencies to ensure actions they authorize, fund, or undertake do not jeopardize the existence of listed species, and directs the Service to work with federal agencies and other partners to develop and carry out recovery efforts for those species. Listing also focuses attention on the needs of the species, encouraging conservation efforts by other agencies (federal, state and local), conservation groups, and other organizations and individuals.

The Service's final rules to list the Ozark Hellbender as an endangered species and to include Hellbenders in Appendix III of CITES appear in the October 6, 2011, Federal Register. The Ozark Hellbender final rule is also available on the Service's Midwest Region website at
www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered

and the final rule to include Hellbenders in Appendix III of CITES is also available on the Service's International Affairs website at
www.fws.gov/international

The listing of the Ozark Hellbender under the ESA will take effect 30 days after publication of the final rule, whereas the listing of Hellbenders in CITES Appendix III will take effect 180 days after publication of the final rule. This additional time is necessary so that the Service can submit required documentation to the CITES Secretariat, which will then notify all CITES Parties of this action taken by the United States.

Contacts for this release are:
Georgia Parham, 812-334-4261 x 1203
Trisha Crabill, 573-234-2132 x 121
Danielle Kessler, 703-358-2644

Friday, September 10, 2010

Ark., Mo. salamander proposed for endangered list (via Richard Freeman)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 9, 2010

By Tom Parsons

The four-legged Ozark hellbender is big and not very pretty.

It's also very uncommon, prompting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to suggest the freshwater salamander be added to the nation's endangered species list.

The Ozark hellbender lives only in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, the agency says. The animals can grow up to 2 feet long and once were common in the streams of the Ozark Mountains, but their numbers have greatly dwindled.

"Not everyone considers it pretty, but it is a pretty neat animal," Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Trisha Crabill said in a recorded interview produced by her agency.

Crabill, who works in the agency's field office at Columbia, Mo., said the Ozark hellbender is not well known because the salamander has dark, mottled skin and is not often seen.

"Most people won't ever see them because they stay pretty well hidden in the water," she said. "They don't ever really come out of the water and they're found just in the pools of fast-flowing streams in the Ozark Plateau."

Crabill said siltation in the Ozarks streams, as well as increased levels of nitrogen and phosphate, from fertilizers and contamination by human and animal waste, has helped reduce the species' numbers. She said higher nitrogen and phosphate levels have led to algae and other vegetation that clog the streams and coat the rocks of the streambeds.

Other factors, she said, had been heavy metals in the water, such as zinc and lead from mining-operation runoff. The Ozarks region was once mined heavily for both metals.

According to Crabill, the karst terrain of the Ozarks _ with underlying limestone allowing water to make its way easily from place to place underground _ makes controlling pollution difficult in the region.

"There's a lot of water falling underground through sink holes, caverns and other openings that have been created by the rocks dissolving underground," she said.

Collette Adkins Giese, a lawyer for the Center for Biological Diversity, said the proposed endangered-species listing of the Ozark hellbender is cause for celebration. Protection under the Endangered Species Act, she said, "would give this species a fighting chance."

According to a news release from the Center for Biological Diversity, the Ozark hellbender is a subspecies of the Eastern hellbender.

The large amphibians are known by several common names, including alligator of the mountains, big water lizard, devil dog, ground puppy, leverian water newt, mud-devil, vulgo, walking catfish, and water dog.

The release said hellbenders have flattened bodies that fit in crevices and allow them to cling to river bottoms and move through strong currents. They also have numerous folds of skin on their sides that allow increased oxygen absorption from the water.

The Fish and Wildlife Service says the salamanders are believed to occur now in only six Arkansas counties _ Baxter, Clay, Fulton, Lawrence, Randolph and Sharp _ and 11 in Missouri _ Carter, Dent, Douglas, Howell, Oregon, Ozark, Reynolds, Ripley, Shannon, Texas and Wright.

Ark., Mo. salamander proposed for endangered list (via Richard Freeman)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 9, 2010

By Tom Parsons

The four-legged Ozark hellbender is big and not very pretty.

It's also very uncommon, prompting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to suggest the freshwater salamander be added to the nation's endangered species list.

The Ozark hellbender lives only in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, the agency says. The animals can grow up to 2 feet long and once were common in the streams of the Ozark Mountains, but their numbers have greatly dwindled.

"Not everyone considers it pretty, but it is a pretty neat animal," Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Trisha Crabill said in a recorded interview produced by her agency.

Crabill, who works in the agency's field office at Columbia, Mo., said the Ozark hellbender is not well known because the salamander has dark, mottled skin and is not often seen.

"Most people won't ever see them because they stay pretty well hidden in the water," she said. "They don't ever really come out of the water and they're found just in the pools of fast-flowing streams in the Ozark Plateau."

Crabill said siltation in the Ozarks streams, as well as increased levels of nitrogen and phosphate, from fertilizers and contamination by human and animal waste, has helped reduce the species' numbers. She said higher nitrogen and phosphate levels have led to algae and other vegetation that clog the streams and coat the rocks of the streambeds.

Other factors, she said, had been heavy metals in the water, such as zinc and lead from mining-operation runoff. The Ozarks region was once mined heavily for both metals.

According to Crabill, the karst terrain of the Ozarks _ with underlying limestone allowing water to make its way easily from place to place underground _ makes controlling pollution difficult in the region.

"There's a lot of water falling underground through sink holes, caverns and other openings that have been created by the rocks dissolving underground," she said.

Collette Adkins Giese, a lawyer for the Center for Biological Diversity, said the proposed endangered-species listing of the Ozark hellbender is cause for celebration. Protection under the Endangered Species Act, she said, "would give this species a fighting chance."

According to a news release from the Center for Biological Diversity, the Ozark hellbender is a subspecies of the Eastern hellbender.

The large amphibians are known by several common names, including alligator of the mountains, big water lizard, devil dog, ground puppy, leverian water newt, mud-devil, vulgo, walking catfish, and water dog.

The release said hellbenders have flattened bodies that fit in crevices and allow them to cling to river bottoms and move through strong currents. They also have numerous folds of skin on their sides that allow increased oxygen absorption from the water.

The Fish and Wildlife Service says the salamanders are believed to occur now in only six Arkansas counties _ Baxter, Clay, Fulton, Lawrence, Randolph and Sharp _ and 11 in Missouri _ Carter, Dent, Douglas, Howell, Oregon, Ozark, Reynolds, Ripley, Shannon, Texas and Wright.