11:10 PM, Nov 16, 2012 The work to save the Ozark crosses the border

Thursday night, THV 11’s Liz Massey took you on “In one of our Ozark Hellbender rivers we haven’t the hunt for the Ozark Hellbender, which is been able to find a hellbender probably in the last 20 many people don’t even know exists. to 25 years,” said Briggler.

The mission to save their lives is underway and the With less than 1,000 worldwide, flood- journey took THV 11’s crew across the border into ing and erosion kill more of their habitat every year, Missouri. but there is hope at the Saint Louis Zoo.

The Eleven Point River in Randolph County is con- “Because the numbers are declining dramatically, in sidered by many to be the most pristine in the . the population, we feel like we have to breed this ani- It’s a place of beauty, a place of peace, and a place mal and captive propagate it so we’ve been working home to a big problem. with the Saint Louis Zoo since 2002 bringing into captivity to try and get them to breed naturally,” “We’re catching fewer and fewer animals, but most Briggler said. importantly we’re not catching baby animals any- more. The numbers are dropping, we’re not seeing They do this by recreating the Hellbenders natu- recruitment behind them so that tells us there’s a ral habitat with two outdoor streams, which are 40 problem with these animals and we have to reverse feet long and 6 feet deep. There are also two large this,” said Jeff Briggler, a Herpetologist with the Mis- indoor rooms that serve as the headquarters for the souri Department of Conservation. Hellbender program. Just a few weeks ago, the zoo announced eight Ozark Hellbenders laid about 2,800 If you’re lucky, just below the surface you’ll see what eggs. There are now more than 200 larvae. Briggler is talking about. The Hellbenders are slimy, slippery, live under the rocks, and look like prehistoric This marks only the second time the endangered creatures. They’re also in danger of becoming extinct. Hellbenders have bred in captivity nesting in artificial boxes that Briggler and a colleague developed a few “Once these older and bigger animals die off, there is years ago. nothing behind them to replace them,” said Briggler. “There are only so many places these animals are Briggler is on the mission because Arkansas and his going to reproduce and they feel safe to use these home state are trying to save the Ozark Hellbender. boxes,” said Briggler. You can’t find them anywhere else in the world except in Arkansas and the Ozarks of southern Missouri. Outside the zoo, they sink the boxes into rivers pack- ing rocks around them. Briggler and his colleague put That’s why Arkansas Game and Fish herpetologist out the first seven boxes in Missouri, in June 2010. Kelly Irwin partnered with Briggler and Trisha Crabill Five months later, he opened the lids. with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Missouri to bring back this giant aquatic from the “I could feel something was different here cause I’ve edge of extinction. been working with this animal for so many years, and I said I got to get my camera, and I took the camera and set it there. He opened that box, and they were like golden nuggets. They got big yellow yolk sacks, and they were out to hatch in a week, and they all flit- tered in their yolk sacks.”

That’s when Briggler said they started building more nesting boxes.

“We came out to the rivers. We collected animals from the wild,” including 6 from the Eleven Point in Arkansas, according to Briggler.

“We put them in an artificial raceway with the nest boxes, and to our surprise last year, we pulled off one of the lids and had a cluster full of eggs. And, we’ve been working so hard to get to that point since 2002. It was just like a golden moment for us all because we’ve got to be able to do this to save this animal,” says Briggler.

Then a the second golden moment happened just a few weeks ago at the zoo.

Another surprise last happened last month on the Eleven Point River in Arkansas. Irwin and Briggler found a nesting box with about 500 eggs.

Back at the zoo, Briggler said, in 4 to 6 years, when these Hellbenders are big enough, they’ll be released back into the river.

“Five years ago, if someone asked me if we could save this animal from going extinct I would have probably told you ‘no,’ and today, I am so much more hopeful. I mean we have a lot of problems to deal with from habitat changes, but we are buying time for this animal. I think we’re going to save this animal. I really do,” said Briggler.

Briggler said in Missouri, they released their first group of Ozark Hellbenders. Thirty-six animals were raised at the zoo and sent back into the wild in 2007. They monitored them over a two year period and about 50 percent survived at one site while 75 percent survived at another.

One day soon, Briggler and Irwin hope to release Hellbenders back into the Eleven Point River in Arkansas.