Ron Goellner Center
for Hellbender Conservation

Background

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%.

St. Louis Interest

Located in our own backyard, the exotic hellbender has been an ongoing interest to the Saint Louis Zoo for 30 years. There are two subspecies of hellbender, and Missouri is the only state with both! Unfortunately, this native species is in need of immediate assistance. Who better to help than the Zoo with its history of successful captive breeding of amphibians and involvement in local, as well as international, conservation? The Hellbender Conservation Center's establishment of a successful breeding program for hellbenders will help ensure the future for this unique amphibian. The place to save the hellbender, like any other form of wildlife, is in its native habitat.

Goal

To establish a captive breeding program and a husbandry protocol for successfully rearing hellbender larvae to sexual maturity.

In 2007, the Saint Louis Zoo achieved the first ever laying of Ozark hellbender eggs in captivity using only environmental cycling. Although they were not fertile, this is a major milestone in the Saint Louis Zoo's efforts to captive reproduce hellbenders.

Behind the scenes at the Herpetarium is a fully-functioning, 32-foot-long man-made Missouri stream for breeding hellbenders, complete with a rock bed, the occasional afternoon rain shower and the freshest and purest water in the area. Here the Zoo has formed a breeding group of eight adult hellbenders and is headstarting 72 young hellbenders for eventual release.

Conservation Science

The Zoo will construct a climate-controlled habitat capable of sustaining a potential breeding group of hellbenders in the Zoo's Herpetarium. Working with our partners, the Center plans to concentrate not only on captive breeding but will also assist with research projects dealing with stream quality assessments and hellbender health evaluations.

Partners

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Missouri Department of Conservation
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
University of Missouri - Rolla
Southwest Missouri State University
University of Arkansas