Bipartisan bill could save ‘uncharismatic’ critters from extinction - The Washington Post

Pandas. Polar bears. Mountain lions. All are examples of what ecologists call "charismatic megafauna," a term for critters that spark squeals of delight at the zoo and grace the glossy brochures of conservation groups.

But less charming critters are in crisis, too. Climate change and habitat loss are pushing hundreds of slimy reptiles, scrawny birds and scaly fish to the brink of extinction, imperiling entire ecosystems that depend on them.

The Recovering America's Wildlife Act aims to address that threat. One goal of the bipartisan bill, recently reintroduced by Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), is to aid "uncharismatic" species so they can avoid being listed under the Endangered Species Act, the 1973 law credited with saving the bald eagle, America's national emblem.

"It's really dangerous to think, 'We're going to protect the bald eagle, but we don't care about songbirds,'" Heinrich said in a recent interview in his office. "All of these things are connected."

Asked for an example, Heinrich pulled out his phone and Googled an image of a hellbender salamander. Also known as a snot otter, the hellbender has a flattened head and body, four stubby legs, a long rudderlike tail and small beady eyes.

"It is not the most attractive animal," the senator said, laughing. "They're not necessarily the animal you would expect to see on a cereal box. But they're really cool."

Nations promise to protect 30 percent of planet to stem extinction

From hellbenders to hippos, bumblebees to bison, Heinrich and Tillis hope to turn the tide on a mounting extinction crisis. About 1 million species are at risk of disappearing forever, a mass extinction on par with the asteroid that wiped out most dinosaurs.

The bipartisan bill would provide more than $1.4 billion annually to state wildlife agencies and tribes to restore populations of species with the greatest conservation need. Historically, cash-strapped state wildlife agencies have often prioritized the most charismatic species, rather than the most vulnerable.

Despite lingering disagreement over how to pay for the measure, backers are cautiously optimistic about its eventual passage. Tillis said in a statement: "Congress has a long history of being champions of conservation efforts in the U.S. to protect our unmatched landscape and wildlife population."

Here are seven critters that the legislation could help. They may lack big carnivore charisma, but they have great names.

Hellbender salamander

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Hellbenders can grow to more than two feet in length, making them the largest salamanders in North America. They live in clean, swift-running rivers across the eastern United States, from southern New York to northern Alabama. A separate subspecies, the Ozark hellbender, can be found crawling around a small part of southeast Missouri and northeast Arkansas.

Some people call them snot otters because they're covered in a layer of slippery mucus. Others use the nickname "lasagna lizards" because the crinkly flap of skin on their sides, which helps them absorb oxygen, resembles a lasagna noodle.

Regardless of what to call them, hellbenders are in trouble. The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies the hellbender as "near threatened," while the Ozark hellbender was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 2011.

An angler caught a Hellbender salamander in Tributary, Penn. on April 30, 2018. The salamander is endangered in the U.S. due to habitat loss. (Video: The Washington Post)

Hellbenders need cool, clear streams, and so climate change and pollution pose major threats to the species' survival. In a recent study published in the journal Conservation Physiology, many hellbenders stopped eating and lost weight when water temperatures in the Allegheny River increased by 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit). Scientists speculated that some salamanders were so hungry that they ate their own eggs during their critical breeding season.

"Hellbenders are definitely one of the indicators of a healthy environment," said Brian Gratwicke, a co-author of the study who leads the amphibian conservation programs at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. "If you're making the stream too warm or otherwise impacting that habitat, there are going to be consequences for these animals."