{"id":5581,"date":"2015-10-28T19:23:07","date_gmt":"2015-10-28T19:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=5581"},"modified":"2025-10-19T17:34:39","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T21:34:39","slug":"help-the-hellbender-day-at-columbian-park-zoo-a-great-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/help-the-hellbender-day-at-columbian-park-zoo-a-great-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Help the Hellbender Day at Columbian Park Zoo a Great Success"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hellbender<\/a>On August 29th, the Colombian Park Zoo<\/a> in Lafayette hosted ‘Help the Hellbender Day’, an outreach event filled with fun and educational activities to promote awareness of this fascinating at-risk salamander. Partners in the community including Purdue University<\/a>, Illinois – Indiana Sea Grant<\/a>, Tippecanoe County Partnership for Water Quality<\/a>, and the Wabash River Enhancement Corporation<\/a> provided activities and booths to teach the community about\u00a0water quality issues and how they can get involved to help the hellbender. The Salamander Tale exhibit featuring the Hellbender Havoc video game made an appearance as well.<\/div>\n
\n

To play the Hellbender Havoc video game visit:
\nHellbender Havoc Game, Apple Store<\/a>
\nHellbender Havoc Game, Google Play<\/a><\/p>\n

Perhaps the most interesting part of the day was the zoo sharing a rare glimpse of the juvenile hellbenders.\u00a0As one of Purdue University’s partners the zoo\u00a0is helping raise the hellbenders\u00a0to increase their numbers. The three hellbenders showed in the video\u00a0were hatched\u00a0at the\u00a0Purdue’s Aquaculture Research Lab<\/a> by Professor of Wildlife Science Rod Williams<\/a> and his team. They were then\u00a0transferred to the zoo last spring, where they will be studied and raised until they are mature enough to be released in the wild.<\/p>\n

Purdue FNR Extension’s Aaron Doenges filmed this exciting day at the zoo and put together a Help the Hellbender Day\u00a0video<\/a> featuring zoo director Ron Breeding, education coordinator Amber Frederick, and hellbender keeper Noah Shields. The FNR team returned to the zoo on October 21st for its annual Boo at the Zoo\u200b event sharing resources on hellbenders.<\/p>\n

Resources:<\/b>
\nHelp the Hellbender Day at Columbian Park Zoo video<\/a> – Purdue Extension
\nHelp the Hellbender<\/a> – Purdue Extension
\nHelp the Hellbender Facebook page<\/a>
\nAsk the Expert: Learn All About Hellbenders and Take a Tour<\/a>, Subscribe Purdue Extension \u2013 Forestry & Natural Resources (FNR) YouTube Channel
\nAsk the Expert video:\u00a0Help the Hellbender \u2013 Dr. Stephen Spear of The Wilds<\/a>, Purdue Extension \u2013 FNR YouTube Channel
\nAsk the Expert video:\u00a0Live with Mesker Park Zoo and Botanical Gardens \u2013 Hellbenders<\/a>, Purdue Extension \u2013 FNR YouTube Channel
\nA Moment in the Wild video:\u00a0Hellbender Hide<\/a>, Purdue Extension \u2013 FNR YouTube Channel
\nA Moment in the Wild video:\u00a0Release Moment of Hellbenders<\/a>,
\nHow Anglers and Paddlers Can Help the Hellbender video<\/a>, Purdue Extension \u2013 FNR YouTube Channel
\nEastern Hellbender ID Video<\/a>, Purdue Extension \u2013 FNR YouTube Channel
\nHellbenders Rock!<\/a>, The Education Store, Purdue Extension\u2019s resource center
\nHelp the Hellbender, North America\u2019s Giant Salamander<\/a>, The Education Store
\nHow Our Zoos Help Hellbenders<\/a>, The Education Store
\nThe Nature of Teaching:\u00a0Adaptations for Aquatic Amphibians<\/a>, The Education Store
\nHealthy Water, Happy Home \u2013 Lesson Plan<\/a>, The Education Store
\nPurdue Expert: Hellbender Salamander<\/a>, Purdue University News YouTube Channel
\nFNR Assists in First Natural Breeding of Eastern Hellbender in Captivity<\/a>, Purdue FNR News & Stories
\nHelping the Hellbender: Mesker Park Zoo Begins Captive Breeding Efforts<\/a>, Purdue Agriculture News
\nPurdue partners with Indiana zoos for hellbender conservation<\/a> – Purdue Agriculture News
\nPurdue-Zoo Partnership Aims To Save The Hellbender<\/a> – WFYI<\/p>\n

Rod Williams<\/a>, Professor of Wildlife Science and Assistant Provost for Engagement at Purdue University.
\nPurdue Department of Forestry & Natural Resources<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On August 29th, the Colombian Park Zoo in Lafayette hosted ‘Help the Hellbender Day’, an outreach event filled with fun and educational activities to promote awareness of this fascinating at-risk salamander. Partners in the community including Purdue University, Illinois – Indiana Sea Grant, Tippecanoe County Partnership for Water Quality, and the Wabash River Enhancement Corporation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,54],"tags":[692,62,196,1564,233,634,72],"class_list":["post-5581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gotnatureforkids","category-wildlife","tag-columbia-park-zoo","tag-got-nature-for-kids","tag-hellbender","tag-purdue-extension-forestry-and-natural-resources","tag-salamander","tag-snot-otter","tag-wildlife","audience-for-enthusiasts","audience-for-homeowners","audience-for-landowners","audience-for-professionals"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-21 10:32:40","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5581"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34780,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5581\/revisions\/34780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}