Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project

One of the ways to tell the frog's story is through photos that capture each animal's unique beauty in detail. Here the project's international coordinator, Brian Gratwicke, takes one of his incredible stylized frog shots.

Anyone who’s been out in the woods at night has heard the call of a frog. Sometimes it’s from a female to a nearby male looking for some romance. Sometimes it’s from a whole camp of males hoping to impress a very picky female. After just a few days in the Panamanian rainforest, I have learned to identify the call of the tungara frog (and can hear one out my window right now), the gladiator frog and the red-eyed tree frog. I’m still working on learning the many other big noises that come from these small creatures.

Although the sounds that frogs make are as varied as the animals themselves, there’s one thing frogs can’t do: talk. That’s where I come in.

Frogs have an important story to tell. It’s one about a fungus that is wiping out their kind worldwide and spreading rapidly. It’s one about those among the Earth’s most powerful species who are doing something to save the animals and it’s about those who don’t much care. Through the frogs’ eyes, it’s a story that has evolved along with the planet since the time of the dinosaurs and a story that still has a very uncertain ending.

To bring frogs into captivity, rescue members and volunteers have to transform this shipping container...

...into a rescue pod like this, which already houses a number of frogs and is the pod I've worked in this week.

The frogs at Summit Zoo were able to tell their story to a reporter who came to visit today and my job—the conservation action that I have to offer—is to ensure that reporters help get the word out and that we connect with as many people as possible in Panama, the States and, well, everywhere else. We need people to care and then we need people to take action. We need this to happen very quickly, before chytrid spreads to those places that are home to the rescue priority species we’re still trying to make room for.

Right now we’re already pushing capacity with the newbie Pirre Mountain frogs (Atelopus glyphus) in quarantine, awaiting their turn to re-locate to a rescue pod. But their rescue pod still looks more like what it was originally created to be—a shipping container.

Spreading the word requires the interest of reporters around the world. Ed Smith, a biologist at the National Zoo, helps a film crew work with Panamanian frogs at the Zoo's Amazonia Exhibit.

Outfitting the pods for the frogs takes a tremendous amount of work. Once we receive the shipping industry’s donation, we need to turn it into an ark by setting up life support systems, from air conditioning to filtration to lighting. This week it took me two hours to make just three false bottoms (tank bottoms that prevent the frog from escaping through a filtration pipe) and about an hour to put together about 20 lights. Really we’re just doing this one or two people at a time.

This takes time and this takes money. Thanks to a grant from the Smithsonian Women’s Committee, the rescue project was able to hire someone to coordinate and recruit volunteers—and volunteers are essential to building capacity we need.

So my shameless plug in the midst of a week of being nothing but frog mad: If you want to be among the good guys in the story of the frogs, come to Panama to volunteer. Or donate money. Or help with the campaign we’ll be announcing next week. Or just do whatever you can to help us spread the word, whether on Facebook, Twitter or at your next dinner party. When the words stop, so, too, will the frog calls.

And that’s a silence I don’t think the world can bear.

–Lindsay Renick Mayer, Smithsonian’s National Zoo

So, just how do you give a frog a bath? And, why would you need to? When the biologists in Panama bring the frogs in from the wild to either the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center or to Summit Municipal Park, one of the first things the frogs experience is a bath. Push those thoughts of tiny loofahs and soap bars right out of your head! No need for that here—rather, what these amphibians need is itraconazole, an antifungal medication.

Dr. Eric Baitchman of Zoo New England gives one of the rescue project's frogs a bath in antifungal medication to ensure it doesn't spread chytrid to the rest of the captive population. (Photo courtesy of Zoo New England)

All frogs brought in from the wild go through a 10-day treatment protocol even before all of the amphibian chytrid results come back. The risks of missing a positive case and introducing chytrid to the entire captive population are too great to wait for results before beginning treatment. For 10 minutes each day, the frogs are bathed in the antifungal medication. Animals that are actively showing signs of illness also receive intensive supportive care to help them survive the course of treatment. The amphibian chytrid attacks the skin cells of amphibians, which can be quickly lethal for an animal that relies on its skin for the majority of respiratory function, hydration and electrolyte balance. Veterinary care for afflicted animals includes continuous fluid therapy to maintain hydration and replace electrolytes, as well as antibiotic treatment to protect against other infections that may take hold after the loss of the skin’s protective barrier.

Ten days after the bath cycle, the frogs are again tested for chytrid. If they test negative, they are cleared to go into the collection at EVACC and Summit Municipal Park after their mandatory 30-day quarantine period ends.

Chytrid is not the only health concern for the captive population. Lungworms, which commonly affect wild and captive frogs, are also a big concern and one that the veterinarians and staff caring for the captive collection at EVACC and Summit are working hard to treat. While frogs can normally live with lungworms in the wild, extra care is taken with captive frogs because of the potential longevity of the parasite’s lifecycle. While lungworms do not have any relation to the chytrid fungus, they can still make the frogs quite ill, which is why it is important to treat them.

Lungworms (larvae shown here) aren't related to the chytrid fungus, but they can still make the frogs sick. The frogs are treated and their tanks cleaned thoroughly. (Photo by Eric Baitchman, Zoo New England)

As one would expect, lungworms live in the frog’s lungs. Because the larvae are passed through the feces, it is important to regularly clean the frogs’ tanks so the animals do not get re-infected. All of the tanks are designed so they can be washed thoroughly and substrate in the tanks is routinely removed.

The parasite is also another physiological stress on the animal, which the veterinarians and staff strive to minimize as much as possible. While in quarantine, each frog is treated for lungworms through an oral medication that is administered once and then followed up two weeks later.

While frogs can typically test negative for lungworms, this does not mean they are not infected— it could just mean that they are not passing larvae. If treated and monitored, the veterinarians and staff are able to keep this parasite under control. It’s yet another challenge, but one that can be managed through diligent and attentive care.

 –Brooke Wardrop, Zoo New England

The Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project announced on December 4th, 2009  that some of the frogs collected in their inaugural expedition in November were already affected by amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis), the disease that has devastated nearly 100 frog species worldwide.

Hyloscirtus colymba undergoing treatment Photo: (c) Matt Evans NZP

The purpose of the Project’s first expedition was to collect living specimens of frogs not yet affected by chytrid fungus in Panama for captive breeding. The rescue mission, led by the Dr. Roberto Ibanez and Edgardo Griffith with support from all of the partners, collected approximately 20 harlequin toads (Atelopus limosus) and 20 treefrogs (Hyloscirtus colymba) under brutal field conditions at the peak of the rainy season from Cerro Brewster in Panama’s Chagres National Park.

These two species will be kept at the Summit Municipal Park in Panama while other rescued species were taken to the previously established El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center (EVACC). The EVACC was established in 2005 ago by the Houston Zoo and many other zoo partners in response to massive amphibian declines were witnessed in Western Panama by researchers and visiting scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

When the animals arrived at the rescue facility, several of the frogs were already showing signs of illness and many more developed signs in the following days. Investigation by the project veterinarians identified these animals to be infected with the amphibian chytrid fungus. Samples were further examined by Dr. Roberto Ibanez at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the chytrid fungus was confirmed.

Eric Baitchman of Zoo New England treating Atelopus limosus Photo: (c) Matt Evans

“Looking through the microscope and seeing the chytrid organism present on these animals with my own eyes was devastating. I knew this meant we were already behind. This meant that the animals we were treating could very well be the last members of their species unless we act fast to get back out there and save as many more as we can from the wild,” said Dr. Eric Baitchman, Director of Veterinary Services at Zoo New England.

All animals collected began a 10-day treatment protocol to eliminate the fungus, which involves each animal being bathed in a medicated solution for 10 minutes a day. This is a standard protocol for animals that are collected from the wild, due to the risk of the amphibian chytrid pathogen, though this treatment was all the more vital once the organism was actually identified in these animals. Animals that are actively showing signs of illness also received intensive supportive care to help them survive through the course of treatment. The amphibian chytrid  attacks the skin cells of amphibians, which can be quickly lethal for an animal that relies on its skin for the majority of respiratory function, hydration and electrolyte balance. Veterinary care for afflicted animals includes continuous fluid therapy to maintain hydration and replace electrolytes and antibiotic treatment to protect against other infections that may take hold after the loss of the skin’s protective barrier.

The worst affected animals were unfortunately lost, but many animals are improved and are recovering today.

The discovery of amphibian chytrid on the frogs at this site means that time has nearly expired for at least four species of frogs that do not live further east than Cerro Brewster and have been extirpated at all their other known sites.

“If we want to save these species, we will have to ramp up capacity a lot faster than anticipated,” said Brian Gratwicke of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. “We thought we had some breathing space, but in fact, we may already be too late for some species.”

Responding to this news, the Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente (ANAM), Panama’s National Environmental Authority, announced it would join the Project, pledging $150,000 in support.

“Amphibians are an important part of the cultural and biodiversity heritage of Panama,” said Javier Arias, director of ANAM. “We are pleased to announce our financial and logistical support as full partners in the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project to build Panamanian capacity to respond to the global amphibian decline crisis.”

The founding partners of the Project are Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, Houston Zoo, Africam Safari in Mexico, Zoo New England, the Summit Municipal Park in Panama, Defenders of Wildlife and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. These research and conservation organizations came together earlier in the year and pledged their support to combat the amphibian crisis in Panama.

The project partners are collectively working to establish an additional amphibian conservation breeding center in Panama for critically endangered species that are in jeopardy of being eradicated by the chytrid fungus. Houston Zoo and other zoo partners created a facility dedicated mainly to preserve endangered species of amphibian from Central Panama known as EVACC, a project lead by the Panamanian biologist Edgardo Griffith in 2005, and the additional capacity provided by this project is needed to focus on Eastern Panama.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums has challenged all AZA accredited Zoos and Aquariums to take a leadership role during this amphibian crisis. If this effort fails, one-third to one-half of the world’s amphibians could go extinct.