Conservation Organization

The St. Louis Zoo helps to rear, breed, and return hellbenders to the wild through the Ron and Karen Goellner center for hellbender conservation. (Ron and Karen Goellner Center for Hellbender Conservation, n.d.)  The Ron and Karen Goellner center for hellbender conservation contains four state of the art climate controlled facilities, with zoo keppers that work exclusively with hellbenders. (Ron and Karen Goellner Center for Hellbender Conservation, n.d.) 

The Saint Louis Zoos captive breeding efforts began by collecting wild Ozark Hellbenders in 2003. (Ettling et al., 2013) The Ozark hellbenders then go into quarantine based on the stream they were found in and placed into the stream systems in 30 days or less. (Ettling et al., 2013) Since 2002 the Ron and Karen Goellner center for hellbender conservation has tried it's best to mimicked the natural environment of the Ozark Hellbenders. Finally on October 11, 2011 two clutches of eggs were found fertilized and in different stages of development in one of the nest box. (Ettling et al., 2013) As of 2022 the Ron and Karen Goellner center for hellbender conservation has released over 10,000 Hellbenders into the wild.  (Ron and Karen Goellner Center for Hellbender Conservation, n.d.)