Category Archives: Chytrid disease

09/27/10

U.S. Agency Proposes Legislation to Help Stem Spread of Chytrid Fungus

In an effort to stem the spread of the deadly chytrid fungus that is wiping out amphibian populations, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is considering banning the importation of amphibians and their eggs without a permit certifying the animals are disease-free. The chytrid fungus has caused the extinction of at least 200 amphibian species and continues to be one of the greatest threats to amphibians.

Northern Leopard Frog, a North American native species

In a statement, Rowan Gould, Acting Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said,

The worldwide decline of amphibians is of great concern to us. Chytrid is attributed as a major cause of this amphibian mortality. We understand that halting the spread of the fungus or eradicating it will take more than just regulating importation and transportation of infected amphibians, but it is a major step in the right direction.

According the the FWS website, under the Lacey Act, the Department of the Interior is authorized to regulate the importation and interstate transport of wildlife species determined to be injurious to the welfare and survival of native wildlife. Current regulations prohibit the release into the wild of all species of live amphibians or their eggs, except as authorized. But, of course, this law isn’t easily enforced. Many pet frogs are let “free” in local ponds, potentially infecting native species.

A listing under the Lacey Act would not affect a person or institution that currently owns an amphibian and does not transport it to another state or U.S. territory.

At FROGS ARE GREEN, we applaud this proposed legislation and feel it would be a huge step toward controlling the spread of the chytrid fungus that threatens the survival of so many amphibian species, including native species listed under the Endangered Species Act.

The FWS is seeking input from the public. You can leave a comment until December 16, 2010. Please take a few minutes to comment and to show your support for a measure that will genuinely help amphibians.

More information: Statement from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Information from Save the Frogs about the frog legs trade and the spread of infectious diseases.

09/13/10

Text "FROG" and Help Save a Frog Today

Below is a re-post from the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation project about their newly launched Text-Frog campaign to raise 50 K for their amphibian rescue program. We hope you will consider helping this worthwhile amphibian conservation effort by donating $5 via cell phone. See below for details.

YOU can help frogs!

The price we pay every time we lose a frog species to chytrid is too great to measure. The cost of saving frogs, however, is scant in comparison. But we need your help! That’s why we’ve launched a mobile giving campaign, providing an easy and convenient tool for you to help us battle chytrid and give the frogs a safe haven. Just pull out your cell phone and text “FROG” to 20222 to make a $5 donation to the rescue project.

Every $5 that comes in this way will go toward our new goal of raising the $50,000 it takes to turn a shipping container into a rescue pod. These rescue pods are biosecure “arks” where we can care for frogs that would otherwise be hit hard by the wave of chytrid. Without this ark, we won’t have a safe place to keep the frogs—so help us raise the funds by spreading the word!

So what will your money buy? Check it out:

$5: Three swab sticks used to test frogs for chytrid.
$5: A box of gloves to help ensure the cleanest and safest handling of the frogs.
$5: Pair of Crocs for keepers and visitors to change into to prevent bringing anything harmful into the biosecure rescue pods and areas where the frogs are kept.
$5: Small cricket container—caring for the frogs’ food is an important part of caring for the frogs.
$10: Four gallons of bleach, to keep the floor of the pod and quarantine rooms sterile.
$10: Large cricket container.
$10: Frog quarantine tank.
$15: Tub of yeast to feed fruit flies, which in turn are fed to the frogs.
$20: Calcium powder for frogs to keep them strong and healthy.
$20: Paper towel pack to help clean the tanks.
$30: 100 pounds of tilapia (fish food) to feed the crickets.
$30: Standard frog tank.
$150: Bottle of anti-fungal medication to treat the animals for chytrid.

Watch as our rescue pod fills up with frogs by following the progress of our $50K for Frogs campaign. And make sure to text “FROG” to 20222* to save a frog today! (You can text “FROG” to 20222 up to six times.)

*A one-time donation of $5 will be added to your mobile phone bill or deducted from your prepaid balance. Messaging & Data Rates May Apply. All charges are billed by and payable to your mobile service provider. Service is available on most carriers. Donations are collected for the benefit of the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project by the Mobile Giving Foundation and subject to the terms found at www.hmgf.org/t. You can unsubscribe at any time by replying STOP to short code 20222; Reply HELP to 20222 for help. You can also find the privacy policy here.

08/3/10

Fighting to Save Colorado's Boreal Toad

The Colorado Division of Wildlife is struggling to save a local amphibian from extinction—the four-inch boreal toad. Once abundant, it is one of many frog species worldwide threatened with extinction by the chytrid fungus, an infectious disease that is devastating amphibian populations. (See our recent post about some rececent promising chytrid fungus research.)

Boreal toad, Colorado

The federal government has refused to list the boreal toad as an endangered species, claiming it is genetically the same as a toad found throughout the West. Tina Jackson of the Colorado Division of Wildlife and other experts disagree.  The toad is, however, a state-listed endangered species in Colorado and New Mexico, and a protected species in Wyoming.

The boreal toads were once common in Colorado’s Southern Rocky mountains. They were found near shallow lakes and beaver ponds at an elevation of 7,000 to 12.000 feet. Thirty years ago, the toads began to disappear. Habitat loss due to logging, grazing, recreation, and water projects contributed to their decline.

But by the late-1990s, the chytrid fungus was identified as the main threat to the toads.  Several hundred  toads have been raised in captivity and reintroduced to the wild, but so far these efforts have not been successful in producing breeding adults.

At two sites, in Larimer County and in Rocky Mountain National Park,  a few introduced toads have survived their first few years. Some of these toads are now 3 and 4 years old, and officials will soon know if they will breed.

The agency has trained volunteers to look for boreal toads while hiking, especially in remote areas where in which toads have not been infected by the chytrid fungus.  Toads reintroduced into these chytrid-free areas might have a fighting chance at survival.

For more information see:

DOW Doesn’t Want this Toad to Croak, by R. Scott Rappold, The Colora,do Springs Gazette

07/15/10

Hope for Frogs in Fight Against Chytrid Fungus

This week  Scientific American reported that researchers in California and Virginia have identified a symbiotic bacteria living on frogs’ skin that protects them from chytrid, a fungal disease contributing to the extinction of one-third of the world’s amphibians.  They discovered this naturally occurring bacteria, toxic to the chytrid fungus, in the skin of mountain yellow-legged frogs and redback salmanders.

The chytrid fungus most likely began in African Clawed frogs, which carry the fungus that causes chytrid, but don’t die from it. In the 1940s these frogs were raised in captivity for pregnancy tests.  Most of the frogs were released once this method was no longer used for the tests. They infected amphibians in the United States and around the world.

So far scientists have not found a way to combat this deadly disease that spreads quickly in amphibian populations. Individual animals can be treated, but not large populations of amphibians.

But in this recent study, frogs inoculated with a solution containing the symbiotic skin bacteria survived. The scientists plan to introduce the bacteria to the wild with with a method called bioaugmentation. They hope to increase naturally occurring bacteria so that it can spread to even more frogs and other amphibians.

This summer the scientists will be conducting tests in isolated areas to ensure that  bioaugmentation will be safe and environmentally friendly. If successful, this might offer the first real hope for warding off the mass exinction of the earth’s amphibians. Good news indeed for our froggy friends!

Mountain Yellow-legged frog