Prague Salamander Makes World Headlines

A Chinese Giant Salamander at Prague Zoo is thought to be the world’s largest

Dave Park

Written by Dave Park Published on 22.01.2016 10:05:33 (updated on 22.01.2016) Reading time: 1 minute

He’s the “longest, grossest salamander on Earth,” writes the New York Post

Meet Karlo, a Chinese Giant Salamander Prague Zoo received from State Museum of Natural History in Karlsruhe, Germany in May 2014 to reside in its then-new salamander pavilion.

At the end of last year, Karlo was measured to be 1.58 meters long – according to the Zoo, the largest Chinese Giant Salamander on record.

Not only that, but this species of salamander is considered to be the largest amphibian species in the world – making Karlo, possibly, the largest amphibian on Earth.

The Zoo was prompted to write about Karlo after a Daily Mail article (“Monster from the Deep”) covered the discovery of a 200-year-old, 1.40-meter Giant Salamander in China. Yet Karlo easily surpasses this length. 

News of Karlo’s record-breaking size quickly spread, making the Huffington Post and the New York Post in the US and a variety of publications across the globe. 

“Reports that our Giant salamander Karlo, probably the longest living Chinese Giant Salamander in the world at 158cm, literally flooded the foreign media,” wrote Prague Zoo on Facebook. “Articles were published in news portals at exotic countries such as Thailand and the Philippines.”

Prague Zoo’s Giant Salamander pavilion is unique across world zoos. “Nowhere else in the world can you admire these amphibians in such an unrivalled environment,” according to the Zoo’s official website.

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