Eastern hellbenders

Hellbenders once thrived in cold, fast-moving Missouri streams, but their populations have plummeted since the 1980s.

Missouri’s population of hellbenders is in trouble. These aquatic salamanders have seen a 70% population decline in the state over the past four decades. Scientists now fear local extinction. We discuss a local effort to bring the hellbender back from the brink.

Fort Leonard Wood is home to more than 6,000 soldiers and at least three endangered species.Those animals and two more that are threatened are protected…

Eastern hellbender salamanders, which have been declining all over the U.S. for decades, are doing so poorly in Missouri that they may receive federal…