04/29/10

Big Chill Helps Mountain Yellow-Legged Frog

One of the most endangered amphibians in North America—the mountain yellow-legged frog—might have some hope this spring due to the collaborative work of researchers at the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research, along with the help of biologists at the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Courtesy of UC Berkeley, www.crcd.org

As reported in the Press-Enterprise (Riverside, California), researchers from the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research, which has a captive breeding program for the frogs, discovered that three months hibernation in near-freezing water is what gets these frogs in the mood for love. In the wild, frogs hibernate in icy, high-elevation streams, not in 55-degree aquariums. To mimic these cool temperatures, they were placed in clear plastic shoe boxes called “Valentine’s Day retreats” and stored in the refrigerators.

When they were removed from the refrigerators in April, they displayed breeding behavior within a few days. According to the institute’s Research Coordinator Jeff Lemm, “It has been wildly successful, and as a result, we could reintroduce about 500 eggs into the San Jacinto Mountains.”*

Only 200 individual mountain yellow-legged frogs exist in the wild. Once common in Southern California’s mountain streams, the frog species is almost extinct due to fungal infections, pollution, habitat loss, and predatory trout introduced for fishing. Researchers hope to re-establish wild populations with the captive-bred frogs.

Kudos to students, researchers, and biologists who are helping to save the mountain yellow-legged frog from extinction!

Please see the video below to learn more about efforts to save the mountain yellow-legged frog. This frog species was also featured in the episode Yosemite in the recently rebroadcast PBS documentary The Thin Green Line, about the amphibian decline, which you can watch online.

*As reported on the University of California’s Natural Reserve System site.

07/27/09

Good news for The Mountain Yellow-legged Frog

I’ve been reading some pretty gloomy stories lately about the worldwide amphibian decline, but I’ve also read a surprising number of hopeful stories as well.  Here’s one Susan passed along to me:

A population of a rare, almost extinct western frog, the Mountain Yellow-legged Frog (Rana mucosa) has been found in the San Jacinto Wildnerness in Southern California. Until last month researchers had estimated only 122 adult Mountain Yellow-legged Frogs remained in the wild. This species was once widespread, but declined over the years when non-native trout were added to recreational fishing waters, disturbing local ecosystems. Tadpoles often become prey to non-native fish such as trout. 

Biologists from the U.S. Geological Survey and the San Diego Natural History Museum made the discovery. Reading this article from the Environmental News Service, I realize how many zoos, state, local, and federal government agencies need to be involved and motivated to save an endangered species.  The San Diego Zoo, for example, has a program is to breed mountain yellow-legged frogs in captivity and return them to their native habitat. 

Kudos to all biologists, museums and zoos, and government agencies involved in this effort!

Courtesy of U.S. Geological Servey
Courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey
To learn more about this, I recommend watching the PBS Nature special The Thin Green Line. (You can watch it online.)  This absorbing documentary is about all aspects of the amphibian decline, but includes a segment on the Mountain Yellow-legged Frog in Yosemite.  Check out The Mountain Yellow-Legged Frog site as well.