Just like the Siberian tiger, the California Tiger Salamander is also endangered- Michael Miller

Juts like the Siberian Tiger, the California Tiger Salamander is also Endangered

by: Mike Miller

The California Tiger Salamander
image from animalspot.net

What is it?

The California Tiger Salamander (or Ambystoma Californiese) has a rounded snout, and is big and stocky, compared to most other salamanders. Full grown adult males measure up to about 8 in. long, and females grow to be just under 7 in. The California Tiger Salamander sports a black body, with random white or yellow markings covering the back, and has a white or pale yellow belly. The salamander also has small, beady, wide set eyes, with black irises.

The California Tiger Salamander lives in broken up regions all across central California, from Santa Barbara county to Sonoma county. About 80% of all extant occurrences are in Alameda, Contra Costa, Madera, Merced, Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Clara counties, with 30% of all occurrences in Alameda County. It has recently been rediscovered on the San Francisco Peninsula (iucnredlist.org). It finds its home in small vernal pools, or temporary pools of water, that appear in grasslands. In these vernal pools, the salamanders live in small burrows created by mammals like the California ground squirrel or the Valley Pocker Gopher. When living in these burrows, the salamanders are capable of sharing the land with animal that dug the burrow or live in the burrow once abandoned. Don’t expect to run into the California Tiger Salamander, though, because they are rarely reported being seen outside of their burrows. They spend almost all of their life in underground burrows, not even leaving to eat— they eat worms and moths that are found in the burrows. These salamanders actually live better underground all the time, though, with studies showing that the salamanders that spend more time underground experience a higher breeding success.

Areas where the California Tiger Salamander lives
Image from Iucnredlist.org

Geographic and population changes

The areas where the California Tiger Salamander lives have become greatly reduced since the mid 1990’s. The vernal pools that the Tiger Salamanders live in have gone down by 80%. In areas like Santa Barbara, half of the 14 of the documented breeding sites have been destroyed, and the exact population is not known, but is declining, and has been eliminated from about 50% of its documented breeding sites (iucnredlist.org).

Threats

The main threat to the California Tiger Salamander is us. The reason why the population is in decline, and why the breeding areas are disappearing is because of rapid development of both commercial and agricultural land. Because they live in these small vernal pools, it can be easy to develop over them because they seem like they are of little importance, when in reality they are the only habitat for animals like the California Tiger Salamander. Another big threat to the California Tiger Salamander is an introduction of exotic animals into the habitat. Bullfrogs and crayfish alter the habitat of these vernal pools and can be predatory to the salamanders. And with the altered habitat, the ground squirrels go elsewhere, leaving a lack of burrows that are so necessary to the survival of the salamanders.

A vernal pool where a California Tiger Salamander might reside.
image from wra-ca.com

Description of Recovery Plan

The California Tiger Salamander was first listed as endangered in Santa Barbara county on 1/19/2000, then later in Sonoma County on 7/22/2002, and finally on 8/04/2004 was listed as threatened in Central California. Years later, on 12/11/2014, the California Tiger Salamander’s recovery plan was finally created. The recovery plan not only protects the salamander, but also protects 3 other native plants that are also endangered. It plans on restoring the population of the California Tiger Salamander by establishing long term and interim mitigation requirements and designates conservation areas where mitigation might occur. It also creates the authorization of conservation banks in some of the surviving areas where the salamander is known to live and breed.

For further information, see:
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/1098/0
http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/Draft%20Recovery%20Plan%20for%20Santa%20Rosa%20Plain%20for%20publication%201-6-2015.pdf