ST. LOUIS — The Saint Louis Zoo got a shout-out on national television this week, putting one of its lesser-known residents in the spotlight.
Chelsea Clinton was on ‘Late Night with Seth Meyers’ to discuss her new book ‘Don’t Let Them Disappear,’ which is about endangered animals. She was fresh off a trip to the Saint Louis Zoo where she got up close with a hellbender, one of the endangered animals the zoo is trying to help.
Seth Meyers showed off a photo that she had tweeted of her petting the Saint Louis Zoo’s hellbender.
“You’re giving your best effort there,” Meyers joked. Clinton said the large salamander was a bit slimy, but “quite soft.”
But Clinton’s colleague Joy Secuban wasn’t so smitten.
Meyers showed a photo of Secuban petting the hellbender with a reaction you might expect when touching something known as a “snot otter.”
“I feel like you’re someone who’s just been in politics a lot longer than Joy,” Meyers joked. “You’re like, no matter whose hand you’re shaking, you gotta look like you’re engaged.”
Clinton then gave a shout-out to the zookeeper Mark and the Saint Louis Zoo.
"Look at Mark the keeper, who has really taken on trying to save the hellbenders,” Clinton said. “They’ve released 6,000 in the wild. They’re a huge part of what the Saint Louis Zoo is doing.”
On its website, the zoo states the number of hellbenders that live in the Ozarks have declined by more than 70%.
Clinton left 'Late Night' with a momento from her trip to the Saint Louis Zoo. She laughed and asked Meyers to keep the photo of Secuban's reaction to touching the hellbender.
To watch the full clip of Clinton on 'Late Night' click here or view the video below.
