A. japonicus in Wildlife Explorer

[ravenous]

Just to let anyone interested know, the November/December issue of Wildlife Explorer (the Cincinnati Zoo magazine) briefly mentions some of Erik Keyster's work on Andrias japonicus. Pretty amazing for a magazine focused largely on mammals and birds.

 

[mark]

Thanks!

 

[TJ]

That's nice to know but this magazine doesn't seem to be accessible to anybody but zoo members.

Mind posting what it says here?

 

[ravenous]

Sure

-Tracking Giant Salamanders

During the last two weeks of July of this year, Erik Keyster, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden's Head Amphibian Keeper, traveled to Japan to participate in a radio tracking study on the Japanese giant salamander. Erik received a grant from the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden's Internal Conservation Fund to support this project entitled, "Movement Patterns and Population Structure of Andrias japonicus, Japanese Giant Salamander, in the Tsuchiya River, Tottori Prefecture," which is being conducted by Sumio Okada, a graduate student at Shimane University in Japan.
While working in Japan, Erik was able to observe more than fifty giant salamanders in the wild. After returning from Japan, Erik modified a large pool to serve as a potential breeding pond for giant salamanders in the Zoo's amphibian facility based on his observations of these animals in the wild. Two male and one female Japanese giant salamander were successfully introduced together for the first time in the Zoo's history in early September. This species has been maintained at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden for the past 25 years.-

-Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden's Wildlife Explorer, November/December 2004, Volume X, Number 6

 

[TJ]

Cool

Thanks Dan. Let's hope they breed. I'd switch jobs with Erik any day!

Interesting to see that Erik is tied in with Okada's project. I listened to the Okada duo's oral presentations just two weeks ago at a herpetological conference in Kyoto:

Distribution and status of the Japanese giant salamander in Tottori Prefecture (Okada, Sumio & Okada, Tamami)

Movements of the Japanese giant salamander in the Hino River, Tottori prefecture - II (Okada, Tamami & Okada, Sumio)

Sumio Okada of Tottori University's Department of Environmental Sciences has this Andrias website:

http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~herpsgh/theandras.html