TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Yushan National Park held an education activity Friday (Sept. 27) to teach students about the endangered Alishan salamander.

Beld at the park's Shueili Visitor Center, the activity delved into the salamander's life cycle, threats, and the importance of conservation. It also highlighted five endemic salamander species found exclusively in Taiwan, per CNA.

Attendees included students from a local vocational high school. The park hopes to instill a sense of conservation in young people and raise public awareness about land conservation.

The Alishan salamander, found at its highest elevations in Yushan National Park, is a focus of the park's research and conservation endeavors efforts. The park's Alishan salamander exhibition is available at Shueili Visitor Center, open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., except on Chinese New Year's Eve and government-announced holidays, per Yushan National Park.

The salamander can be found at altitudes between 1,997 and 3,626 meters, making it the most widely distributed salamander species in Taiwan. Its habitat spans from Chihmao Mountain in central Taiwan to Dawushan in the south, Alishan in the west, and Dandashan in the east.

Newly metamorphosed salamanders are dark brown, while adults are brown with four toes on their front legs and five on their hind legs. A distinctive feature is the clear costal grooves on both sides of their bodies.

Sometimes, they can be seen placing the egg cluster around their heads to protect it.

Taiwan's five endemic salamander species include the Taiwan lesser salamander, the Nanhu salamander, the Formosan salamander, the Taichu salamander, and the Alishan salamander.  All inhabit high-altitude mountain streams above 1,500 meters, with fragmented and isolated populations scattered throughout their range, according to Yushan National Park.

As glacial relic species in a subtropical region, Taiwan's salamanders are highly sensitive to climate changes. External environmental alterations can easily threaten their survival.

Studying the distribution of their populations and their genetic evolutionary history at high altitudes can provide valuable insights into environmental changes.