Brian Silva, Ann Street School
Essex County
Eastern Tiger Salamander
Hi, I am an eastern tiger salamander or as my scientific name is Ambystoma tigrinum. I
can grow up to seven to eight inches. I am also the largest salamander in New Jersey. I
inhabit woodlands, meadows, marshes, and suburban areas. But I am also in trouble.
I am an endangered species. I need your help! My habitat is lost and the pollution and
breeding ponds led to declines of my population. We have many threats to, wooden
uplands, illegal dumping along with filling, and destroying or degrading many breeding
pond. Pollution from insecticides, runoff, and fertilizers may kill eggs and larvae or
render ponds inhabitable.
Humans have the power to put this system in balance. When air, land, water, and plants
support each other in a healthy environmental system, all species, including humans
flourish. I live in the east coast from southern New York to northern Florida west from
Ohio to Minnesota and southward through eastern Texas to the Gulf. I spend most of my
time underground. On long island we emerge from our burrow and in February and
March we go to migrate at night.
Our eggs are laid in mass and attached to twigs and weed stems undr water. The female
may deposit one of more egg masses containing 25-50 eggs per mass. After four weeks
the larvae may remain in the ponds till late July or early August. I may live up to 12-15
years. We eat invertebrates and small vertebrates. Recent surveys have identified about
90 breeding ponds in New York, confined to eastern Nassau County and Suffolk County.
Its status at these remaining sites is tenuous because of pesticides and other contaminants,
threats of development, and other land patterns.
Intensive surveys were conducted to determine the distribution of this species in New
York. Breeding ponds have been designated as Class 1 wetlands. A five year program to
reintroduce tiger salamanders to an unoccupied historic site in Nassau County by
transplanting egg masses was initiated in 1987 but has had limited success. A radio
telemetry study, funded by Return A Gift to Wildlife was started in 1990 to study the
biology and upland habitat requirements of this species is needed in order to develop
appropriate management strategies.
You can help us by stopping pollution, try to clean our habitat and do not littr. I hope now
you can help me!
Written By: Brian Silva
Ann Street School, Newark, NJ
Teacher: Mrs. Cardoso