The Jefferson salamander (Ambystoma jeffersonianum) is an endangered species in Canada that depends on healthy forests and seasonal woodland pools to survive. Habitat loss and fragmentation are putting increasing pressure on this species but in some isolated populations, there is another unusual challenge: there simply aren’t enough males. Jefferson salamanders share their habitat with all-female unisexual salamanders that also rely on male Jefferson salamanders for reproduction. At a historically significant population in Mississauga, the first Jefferson salamander population described in Canada, researchers discovered an extraordinary imbalance of approximately one male for every 67 females. To help address this conservation challenge, your Toronto Zoo is working alongside researchers from the uoftmississauga and the Jefferson Salamander Recovery Team on an innovative pilot head-starting program. Led by Drs. Meredith Swartwout and Rosalind Murray, the collaboration is helping g...