An adult Ozark hellbender is typically brown or green with black
markings that help it blend in with its rocky river-bottom
habitat. It's flat. It's slimy. And it hides under rocks on the
river bottom. It's the Ozark hellbender, and at up to two feet
in length, it's one of the world's largest salamanders. But
Ozark hellbenders are disappearing: Fewer than 600 are left in
the rivers of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas.
Scientists have been making a huge effort to get them to breed
in captivity. And now, thanks to a major effort at the Saint
Louis Zoo, 2012 could be the year of new hope for hellbenders.
The zoo has built a kind of honeymoon resort for salamanders,
assembling a mini water treatment plant and carefully tweaking
water chemistry to recreate their cold, fast-flowing Ozark
streams — minus any distracting predators or pollution.Enlarge
Veronique LaCapra/St. Louis Public Radio Two outdoor raceways,
or artificial streams, are home to 16 adult Ozark hellbenders at
the Saint Louis Zoo. The screens