{"id":117400,"date":"2025-08-29T02:04:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T02:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/117400\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T02:04:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T02:04:10","slug":"oregon-zoo-national-park-service-team-up-to-save-endangered-crater-lake-newt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/117400\/","title":{"rendered":"Oregon Zoo, National Park Service team up to save endangered Crater Lake newt"},"content":{"rendered":"

A tiny endangered newt<\/a> found only in Crater Lake has a new crew of champions. <\/p>\n

The Oregon Zoo announced Thursday that it has teamed up with the National Park Service and the High Desert Museum<\/a> to try to save the endangered Crater Lake newt with a new captive breeding program in Portland. <\/p>\n

Also known as the Mazama newt, the small amphibian has become increasingly imperiled over the last 15 years as warming temperatures favor its predator, the signal crayfish, which was introduced to the park<\/a> in the late 1800s as a way to attract visitors and gain federal protection as a national park \u2013 a plan that ultimately worked.<\/p>\n

Crayfish now occupy more than 95% of the lake\u2019s shoreline, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, which in April said it planned to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service<\/a> over its failure to protect the animal. Scientists project the crayfish could occupy all of the lake\u2019s shoreline in less than two years, the environmental organization said. <\/p>\n

That could threaten not only the newts, but the crystal blue clarity of Crater Lake itself, as the crayfish also prey on native plankton-consuming invertebrates, increasing the growth of algae in the lake.<\/p>\n

\"AThe Crater Lake newt, also known as the Mazama Newt, can be seen in the clear waters of Crater Lake in this National Park Service photo.National Park Service\"CraterA Mazama newt photographed near Crater Lake National Park.High Desert Museum\/Kyle Kosma<\/p>\n

This summer, Crater Lake hosted a workshop to chart an \u201cemergency action plan\u201d for the newt, the zoo said. The workshop was attended by scientists and experts from a broad coalition including the University of Washington, Oregon State University, University of Illinois, San Antonio Zoo, the Klamath Tribes, the High Desert Museum, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Zoo and Crater Lake National Park.<\/p>\n

In 2024, the High Desert Museum kicked off the conservation plan by transporting 19 Mazama newts from Crater Lake to its facility in Bend. Now, those newts have been transported to the Oregon Zoo\u2019s \u201cMazama newt lab,\u201d where the animals are being closely monitored and will be bred. If all goes according to plan, their offspring will be released into the lake, the zoo said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe newts are settling in well, which is just what we\u2019d hoped for,\u201d Julia Low, who oversees the zoo\u2019s newt conservation program, said in a news release. \u201cThis is only the second time this species has been in human care, and this will be the first-ever breeding effort, so we\u2019re eager to learn everything we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWith more newts disappearing every year, now is the time to act to save this species,\u201d Low said.<\/p>\n

In 2008, Mazama newts were found at half of the survey sites around Crater Lake, but in 2025 they were spotted at only 5% of the sites, the zoo said. Crayfish were found at every site this year.<\/p>\n

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A tiny endangered newt found only in Crater Lake has a new crew of champions. The Oregon Zoo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[75889,75890,75891,75892,79,201],"class_list":["post-117400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-conservation-program","tag-crater-lake-national-park","tag-mazama-newt","tag-salamander","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}