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WASHINGTON, July 22 -- The Smithsonian Institution issued the following press release:
After a voyage that has united two cultures in an international conservation effort, one of Japan's "special natural treasures" is now among the National Zoo's most valued scientific gems. The Japanese giant salamanders given to the Zoo by the City of Hiroshima Asa Zoological Park will be the foundation of a new long-term breeding program in the United States and may play an important role in saving amphibians around the globe.
"Our Japanese colleagues at the Asa Zoo have successfully applied decades of work and science to Japanese giant salamanders in the field and at their zoo," said Dennis Kelly, director of the Smithsonian's National Zoological Park. "It is an honor for the National Zoo to be entrusted with the offspring from their efforts, and we look forward to collaborating with them to save this magnificent species."
At the celebratory opening of the new breeding center today, Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki solicited the help of students from Virginia's Great Falls Elementary School to name one male salamander. The students voted on two of the ambassador's proposals,...