MANHATTAN (CN) — Whether you know it as "old lasagna sides" or the Allegheny river monster, a salamander called Eastern hellbender inspired a lawsuit Thursday by conservation groups worried that the fresh-water indicator species is going extinct.
Nearly 80% of hellbender populations are gone or in decline, according to the complaint led by the Center for Biological Diversity, which petitioned over a decade ago for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to grant the hellbenders protections under the Endangered Species Act.
Its "ominous name" notwithstanding, according to the complaint, hellbenders are as harmless as they are hefty. Considered the largest salamander in North America, a hellbender can grow longer than two feet and are found in clear water across 15 states from New York to Missouri.
But Thursday's complaint notes that water pollution and other disturbances such as sedimentation, dams, warming waters and deforestation are rapidly squeezing them out.
Fish and Wildlife officials opted to deny the species protection as a whole in April 2019 — a decision finalized earlier this year when the agency recognized only a Missouri distinct population segment of the hellbender as endangered.
Thursday’s lawsuit says this call was the wrong one.
“The service’s disregard for the legal requirements of the ESA and the best available scientific information about the species led to an arbitrary and unlawful decision,” the 24-page complaint states.
In its denial the government noted that the hellbender should be fine for the “foreseeable future” — 25 years. But the center says it's too vague for the government to say “foreseeable future” based on experts having little information on the outlook on the habitats in 25 years from now.
“Foreseeable future analyses must be applied to all stressors the eastern hellbender faces, and the projections of some stressors — such as climate change — extend well past 25 years,” the complaint states.
The complaint further alleges that the government is relying too heavily on conservation techniques that have proved to be not very helpful, such as the use of artificial nesting boxes and releasing captivity-raised juvenile hellbenders into the wild.
Conservation groups Waterkeeper Alliance, Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper, Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper and Waterkeepers Chesapeake are co-plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Daniel Estrin, advocacy director for Waterkeeper Alliance, says humans are failing the hellbenders, and that action must be taken now.
“The Trump administration’s refusal to federally protect eastern hellbenders was scientifically indefensible and unlawful,” Estrin said in a press release. “These harmless amphibians are suffering the proverbial death by a thousand cuts as a result of myriad human impacts. We must protect this vital species and its aquatic habitat before it’s too late.”
In the joint press release Betsy Nicholas, executive director of Waterkeepers Chesapeake, agreed with that sentiment and added that humans are threatened as well if the hellbender is not protected.
“The hellbender is an ancient species that deserves better protections,” said Nicolas. “The hellbender reminds us that we all live downstream. As the upstream tributaries are disturbed and polluted, the hellbender disappears. And that same pollution flows downstream to our populated areas, threatening the use and enjoyment of our rivers. We need to pay attention to what happens to the hellbender.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not immediately respond to email seeking comment.
Thursday's lawsuit comes two years after Pennsylvania officially recognized the hellbender as state amphibian.
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