OHIO — The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and The Wilds released over 100 rare and endangered giant salamanders in protected waterways across eastern Ohio this summer, according to our media partner WBNS-10 TV.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
The release involved 116 juvenile eastern hellbenders as part of a collaborative effort to recover the species, which has faced dramatic declines due to habitat loss, pollution, and sedimentation.
TRENDING STORIES:
“This is quiet work that adds up,” Greg Lipps, a conservation biologist at the zoo, said. “One stream, one release, one more sign that clean water and wildlife can thrive together in our community.”
Hellbenders can grow up to two feet in length, making them the largest amphibians in North America, WBNS-10 reported.
They are nicknamed “snot otters” due to their slippery protective coating.
Since 2012, the Columbus Zoo and The Wilds have released more than 2,000 hellbenders in Ohio, with over 350 released last year alone.
The zoo said researchers documented wild reproduction by previously released hellbenders for the first time in 2023, marking a significant milestone in the recovery efforts.
Young hellbenders are monitored in a lab from eggs collected within their native range, hand-reared until they are large enough, and tagged for monitoring before release, WBNS-10 reported.
Hellbenders raised at the Columbus Zoo are translocated to high-quality habitats in eastern Ohio, while those raised at The Wilds are returned to streams mainly in West Virginia.
Teams have installed 30 hellbender huts in addition to the 100 previously placed within Ohio, providing researchers with safe access to the animals and their eggs, according WBNS-10.
The statewide recovery effort is led by the Ohio Hellbender Partnership, which includes the Columbus Zoo, The Wilds, other Ohio zoos, The Ohio State University and other academic and government organizations.
[SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2025 Cox Media Group