Affect on Humans

Ozark hellbenders are an important part of the Ozark streams in southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas. These hellbenders are currently in small isolated populations (Ettling et al., 2013) making them highly vulnerable to events that could cause further decline and extinction. The goal of both the St. Louis zoos captive reproduction of Ozark hellbenders, and the conservation efforts of the Missouri department of conservation is to help bring more Ozark Hellbenders back to their natural habitat.

As humans we need this animal to thrive, because if they are not doing well our water streams are not doing well. Ozark hellbenders are extremely sensitive to changes in their aquatic environment. The Ozark hellbenders thrive in cold, clean, and clear water (Ozark Hellbender, n.d.). Ozark Hellbenders surviving in the wild is a huge indicated that their habitat has cold,  clean, and clear water.

In addition to Ozark hellbenders being great indicators of water quality, they also help manage crawfish populations. (Ozark Hellbender, n.d.) If the Ozark hellbender population increases in the wild this in turn could effect the crawfish boil season.