Salamanders close King Rd

(Updated) Part of Burlington’s King Rd will close starting today to allow endangered Jefferson Salamanders to cross and lay eggs.

The salamanders have a grey or brown coloured back. Adults are 12 to 20 centimetres long and the tail makes up half the length. The Ontario population of the Jefferson salamanders are small, mostly along the Niagara Escarpment.

Ecologist Brenda Van Ryswyk explains a major concern is road mortality, as the salamanders travel to nesting sites.

“On these warm, rainy nights the salamanders have the urge to travel from their winter habitat to their breeding habitat and cross the road in that process. In years past some have been killed on the road so by closing the road, we protect the population.”

The closure will last for three weeks. The city of Burlington began closing this section of King for the annual migration two years ago. The Jefferson Salamander is on both the national and provincial endangered species lists.