Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper: Groundbreaking Pilot Project Helps Restore Eastern Hellbenders To Susquehanna River Watershed - Part I

By John Zaktansky, Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper

This is Part I of a two-part series on a recent Eastern Hellbender release in the Susquehanna River posted by the Middle Susquehanna RiverKeeper.

More than 10 dozen juvenile Eastern hellbenders were released into a tributary in the upper sections of the Susquehanna River basin on Saturday, Aug. 28, in a groundbreaking pilot program developed by Dr. Peter Petokas, of Lycoming College.

"When we started studying the streams in the Susquehanna River watershed, we noticed that hellbenders were either disappearing or gone, so we partnered together to try and restart the species' populations in the upper portions of the region," said Petokas. "It really is a collaboration between Lycoming College in Williamsport, the College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse and the Bronx Zoo, which is part of the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York City.”

The effort wrapped up the second leg of a three-part project Petokas hopes sparks additional attention and funding that will allow this program to expand across the watershed.

“Back in 2014, we collected some eggs and took them to the Bronx Zoo and they raised them for 2 ½ years, and then we brought them up to a new lab facility for another year. In August 2018, we released 99 three-and-a-half year-old hellbenders,” said Petokas. “Today, we have another group of hellbenders – 124 of them – that were raised by the Bronx Zoo again. We released them back to the wild as a second set of animals to help restart this population. We plan to collect eggs in September and raise them for 3 ½ years and introduce them back to the wild.”

Click Here to read the entire article.  Click Here to watch a video of the Eastern Hellbender reintroduction project.

To help support Dr. Petokas’ reintroduction of Eastern Hellbenders-- Pennsylvania’s official state amphibian-- to the Susquehanna River basin, contact him directly via email at petokas@lycoming.edu.  You can also learn more via Lycoming College's Hellbender Conservation Campaign page.

For more information on programs, initiatives, upcoming events and how you can get involved, visit the Middle Susquehanna RiverKeeper website.  Follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Related Articles:

-- Heralding The Eastern Hellbender - Severing Stereotypes Offers A Step Toward Savoring The Salamander’s Significance - Part II

-- Middle & Lower Susquehanna RiverKeepers, File Notice Of Lawsuit Over Fish & Wildlife Service Decision To Deny Endangered Species Protection For Eastern Hellbenders

-- CBF Student Leaders Recognize Sen. Yaw For Eastern Hellbender Designation; But We’re Far, Far, Far From Done, We Need $324 Million This Year

-- Allegheny College: Research Team Helps Statewide Effort In Stream Monitoring And Trout Assessment

[Posted: September 8, 2021]  PA Environment Digest