LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Louisville Zoo is joining the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources’ Eastern Hellbender Restoration Program to help Kentucky’s official state amphibian’s population recover, the zoo and Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg announced Thursday.
The eastern hellbender is North America’s largest salamander, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listing certain populations as endangered. In December 2024, the service proposed listing the eastern hellbender as endangered throughout its entire range due to threats from sedimentation, water quality degradation, habitat destruction, disease and direct mortality.
While the proposal has yet to finalized, the zoo is taking a proactive approach to conservation efforts…