TOLEDO BLADE (Ohio) 01 February 08 Toledo Zoo hails rare birth of 'tiny treasure'

Photo at URL below: This Northern slimy salamander hatched at the Toledo Zoo will be on display as part of the Amazing Amphibians exhibit. (The Toledo Zoo/Andrew Odum)

The Toledo Zoo's newest addition is no more than a half inch long, doesn't have lungs, secretes a sticky substance when threatened - and was dubbed a "little tiny treasure" by a curator.

Zoo officials announced yesterday that they successfully bred a Northern slimy salamander early last month after its mother laid a clutch of eggs in October.

They were the first viable Northern slimy salamander eggs the zoo has had since adding the woodland creatures about a decade ago. After the mother ate the clutch's other eggs, the viable one was removed from her presence and incubated, said R. Andrew Odum, the zoo's curator of herpetology.

"This is the first time that we've ever been successful,' he said. "We took the gamble, and we decided to separate it out."

The Northern slimy salamander newborn, which is likely to reach 5 to 7 inches long, eventually will be on display in the zoo's upcoming Amazing Amphibians exhibit opening in May.

The zoo is working to conserve and preserve amphibians, which are being threatened by habitat destruction, disease, and pollution, Mr. Odum said.

The salamanders are native to Ohio and other eastern and central states, and they are found in moist woodlands.

It likely is the first successful breeding of a Northern slimy salamander in a zoo setting, zoo officials said.

Salamanders are not a high priority in most zoos, and they are difficult to display because they need moist, cool, shaded habitats, Mr. Odum said.

"They're not an elephant," he said.

"Some people just come for the big, majestic animals."
Toledo Zoo hails rare birth of 'tiny treasure'

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