Eastern Hellbender Project (23387303851)

Description:

Description: The Eastern Hellbender Juvenile Habitat Restoration project is funded through the State Wildlife Grant Program to assess survival in juveniles receiving an enriched captive environment and enriched juvenile habitat in the Blue River, IN. This research project is with the Indiana DNR and the Purdue Aquaculture Research Lab at Purdue University. In addition, 167 juvenile hellbenders will continue to be reared at the Purdue aquaculture facility and be released in 2017 as part of the reintroduction program. The overarching goals of this research are to assess the historical eastern hellbender habitats for potential reintroductions and reintroduce captive reared juveniles into a former portion of their native range. The specific goals of the project include conducting eDNA screening, habitat suitability assessments, and estimating post-release survival using radio-telemetry. Ultimately, the results of this research could influence management decisions to repatriate eastern hellbenders throughout portions of its former range within Indiana and prevent extirpation. Photos by Jessica Piispanen/USFWS. Date: 6 November 2015, 14:15. Source: Eastern Hellbender Project. Author: USFWSmidwest.