Rescuers Hope To Save Tiny Newts By Moving Them Out Of Crater Lake National Park

Oregon's Crater Lake is the only place on Earth where a tiny species of salamanders called Mazama newts are found, but scientists think moving some of the aquatic critters is the only way to save them.

"The Oregon Zoo is taking a group of Mazama newts into human care in the hopes of protecting the species," zoo spokesperson Kelsey Wallace said in an email Monday.

It wasn't yet known how many of the newts will move to the zoo, located in Portland about 180 miles north of Crater Lake. They will be the second group of newts removed from the lake. The first, a group of 20, were taken last year to the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon.

Biologists there are developing protocols to care for them in captivity.

“There's so many unknowns about the animal,” museum wildlife curator Jon Nelson told the Salem Statesman-Journal.

With a depth of 1,943 feet, Crater Lake is one of the deepest lakes in the world. It's located entirely in Crater Lake National Park on the crest of the Cascade Mountains in southern Oregon. 

What's happening to newts in Crater Lake?

Efforts to save Mazama newts, also widely known as Crater Lake newts, date back more than a decade. Their demise is linked to a domino effect of human interference in the environment.

Fish were introduced to the lake back in the late 1800s to attract visitors. Then, in 1915, park managers introduced signal crayfish as food for the fish. Both prey on newts, but the crayfish has been especially detrimental by rapidly multiplying and taking over virtually all of the newt habitat. 

Before other species were introduced, Mazama newts were at the top of the Crater Lake food chain and never adapted any natural defenses. Efforts to try and control the crayfish haven't been successful, so scientists are turning to other ways to save the newts.

Climate change is also part of the problem

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced in October that it would consider adding Mazama newts to the federal list of threatened and endangered species. The proposal came after a petition by the Center for Biological Diversity and is currently undergoing a 12-month review process, according to FWC documents.

The center's petition tied the surge in signal crayfish to warmer lake temperatures that the National Park Service said were driven by climate change. Summer surface temperatures in Crater Lake rose at an average rate of 1 degree per decade between 1965 and the mid-2010s, according to the NPS. Winter temperatures are also rising, and the summer season is about 33 days longer than it was in the 1960s. 

In an article published online in 2021, the Park Service said warmer water temperatures in the winter allowed more crayfish to survive the season and longer summers gave them more time to spread around the lake in favorable conditions. 

What's next for Crater Lake newts

The presence of crayfish in Crater Lake may be having other negative impacts. The insects they eat help control algae growth, and other ecological changes appear to be happening along shorelines where signal crayfish have taken over. There are fears that those and other factors could compromise the lake's world-famous clarity.

It's not clear how many Mazama newts remain in the lake. Biologists hope rescue efforts will lead to breeding in captivity and eventual release into the wild.

"If the recovery plan is successful, not only will the newt population be restored but Crater Lake’s imperiled ecosystem will be rejuvenated, too," Wallace said.