Groundbreaking efforts are underway to preserve the endangered Eastern hellbender, the largest amphibian in North America.

Hellbenders have declined dramatically over the last three decades throughout their range. Disease, pollution, and stream sedimentation are to blame. A statewide effort to reverse this trend is being led by the Ohio Hellbender Partnership, which includes The Ohio State University, the Columbus Zoo, The Wilds, other zoos, academic, and government organizations.

We’re protecting these giant salamanders in four ways: surveillance, habitat augmentation, head-starting and reintroduction. The Columbus Zoo and The Wilds rear young hellbenders from eggs collected in their native range. The team then waits for them to hatch, and cares for them until they are big enough to release.

The Columbus Zoo and The Wilds are at the forefront of the hellbender recovery through environmental DNA research conducted at The Wilds to detect this state-endangered salamander in our waterways, and through rearing and releasing young collected as eggs.