A number of projects are also underway in North Carolina. Protection and research of the hellbender salamander, which is globally recognized as near threatened but is classified as "endangered" in several US states including North Carolina, is the target of a project in the Appalachian Mountains. Due to the steep decline in population in the past 30 years, the Zoo conducted a thorough survey, with the help of the AZA, into the hellbender populations of western North Carolina.
