Wildlife conservation tends to save charismatic species. That may be about to change

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/12/ [login to see] /wildlife-conservation-charismatic-species-change
A soaring bald eagle is spellbinding. A growling grizzly is awe-inspiring. A swimming hellbender? You might not be able to picture that one.

On a recent hot summer day, biologist Michelle Herman is carefully swabbing this kind of rare, giant salamander for invasive fungus by a tributary of the Susquehanna River. She is part of a small group of biologists, state wildlife technicians, and volunteers supporting the hellbender in this area, where their numbers have sharply declined.

"They don't have many advocates so I'm happy to be a hellbender advocate," says Herman, who works for The Wetland Trust, a nonprofit conservation organization.

Some high-profile species, such as the bald eagle, are conservation success stories. But thousands of less charismatic species are competing for scarce resources in the United States, with as many as a million facing extinction around the world, according to the United Nations.

Amphibians, such as hellbenders, are declining for a number of reasons from habitat destruction to climate change. Hellbenders live under giant rocks in clean, fast-moving streams, where they like to eat crayfish. Their presence is a sign of good water quality, says Herman.