Mark Cheater accompanied the rescue project to the Darien last year, writing about it for Defenders magazine.

Ever wonder how scientists find and protect rare amphibians? I wanted to find out, and I persuaded the folks at the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project to let me accompany them on an expedition to the Darien region of Panama last June in search of rare Toad Mountain harlequin frogs. I discovered that not only is working in the field physically demanding—spending long hours hiking through jungles and up rivers to find and capture the frogs—but it’s also dangerous, involving frequent encounters with venomous snakes and scores of biting insects. To learn more about the hazards and rewards of rescuing  imperiled frogs, check out my story—and an accompanying behind-the-scenes slideshow—in the new issue of Defenders magazine:

http://www.defenders.org/newsroom/defenders_magazine/winter_2011/rescue_at_toad_mountain.php

–Mark Cheater, Defenders of Wildlife