St. Louis Zoo

Since 1990, the St. Louis Zoo has played an instrumental role in bringing Tahitian snails back from the brink of extinction.

The salamanders, also known as “snot otters,” are an endangered species and some of the largest of their kind in North America. Some scientists estimate that there were about 45,000 hellbenders in Missouri 40 years ago, but the population had declined by over three-quarters.