1,200 Rare Salamanders Released in Florida Days After 42 Snakes Were Set Free in the State
The Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy released 1,204 frosted flatwoods salamanders into the wetlands of Florida's panhandle in late April
Frosted flatwoods salamanders are endangered due to habitat destruction and climate change
Biologists released the amphibians to improve Florida's ecosystemsFlorida is gaining more amphibian residents!
According to the Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy (ARC), biologists released 1,204 frosted flatwoods salamanders in the wetlands of the Florida panhandle in late April.
Frosted flatwoods salamanders are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. The April release was an effort to help bolster the amphibian population and save the salamanders from extinction.
The Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy is committed to helping salamander species through releases and habitat restoration.
"Along with our incredible partners here, we're carrying out a multi-faceted strategy for frosted flatwoods salamanders. We're not only releasing more salamanders onto the land; we're building better habitats and making sure the ecosystem contains what these amphibians need, all to give them a fighting chance against the big threats they face," JJ Apodaca, the executive director of ARC, shared.
The salamanders released into Florida are part of a process called head-starting. Biologists collected the animals as unhatched eggs in the wild, hatched them, and raised them in protected environments. Then, the biologists released the salamanders back into the wild once they reached a size more suitable for surviving in the wild.
ARC is also working on a captive breeding program for frosted flatwoods salamanders and plans to release the salamanders that result from the initiative.
"This is a species persisting in the face of a lot of adversity, and there's a committed team of people mirroring that persistence by working hard to help them in many ways," ARC project coordinator Nicole Dahrouge said.
While the salamanders have numerous supporters at ARC and the organization's partners, the amphibians still face mounting hazards.
"The looming climate threats are pretty worrisome; with storm surges and flooding, the coastal populations are increasingly at risk," Dahrouge added.
Still, Dahrouge remains optimistic about the frosted flatwoods salamander's future and the "positive changes" ARC is making for them.
"These animals matter, even if most people never see them or might not even notice their absence if they were lost," she said. "They're part of a system that's been in place long before we arrived, and the tragedy of their loss would be an avoidable one."
The release of the over 1,200 salamanders comes days after a large snake release. On April 25, The Nature Conservancy and its partners released 42 young eastern indigo snakes, 22 females and 20 males, at the Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve (ABRP) in Florida.
Indigo snakes are non-venomous apex predators that bring balance to the longleaf pine ecosystems they are native to. The species is also the longest snake native to the U.S.
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"In restoring ecosystems, each species plays a part in bringing back natural balance," the ABRP preserve manager, Catherine Ricketts, said in a statement. "In our longleaf pine-wiregrass savannas, we want the complete suite of species here, including birds, mammals, insects, and an apex predator: the eastern indigo snake. These snakes are a key component of restoring north Florida's longleaf pine forests."
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