Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project

Jorge Luis Gurrel Soriano, one of the project's frog keepers, shows me how to feed one of the La Loma tree frogs in the rescue pod.

It’s official. When it comes to spotting La Loma tree frogs (Hyloscirtus colymba), I just don’t have what it takes. These light green frogs plaster themselves to the underside of leaves and blend right in—a testament to Mother Nature’s brilliant design.

Of the 24 La Loma tree frogs that I was assigned to find in the tanks in the rescue pod yesterday, I found only 10. That’s 42 percent, or a solid F in most classrooms. Pretty freaking lousy.

It didn’t much matter, though, just as it didn’t much matter that my primary task yesterday was to do spot checks (read: find the frogs, clean their poo). I was just thrilled to be in close contact with the animals. In addition to performing spot checks in the rescue pod that is up and running, I’ve given the frogs their breakfast and helped with providing medication this week. This has all made me very appreciative of what the rescue project’s five keepers are doing behind the scenes to keep the frogs alive.

The best tea steeper I've ever seen.

There’s Angie and Jorge, the primary frog keepers, who handle the animals delicately, but in a way that suggests they know exactly what they’re doing and that they’re good at it. Angie gets up around 4:30 every morning to make it to work, which is probably why she drinks plenty of tea in the morning—steeped in a large plastic cup with a cartoon frog sketched on it. The keepers use these plastic cups otherwise for crickets and other froggie food items.

Jorge apparently has just the right touch—I watched, captivated, as he skillfully provided medical care for one of the frogs. He’s also completed the creation of two beautiful breeding tanks during my time here and tomorrow I’ll have a chance to watch him move four Toad Mountain harlequin frogs (Atelopus certus) to their new homes and introduce them to their new mates.

Then there’s Rousmery and Nancy, who shatter the stereotype that girls will run shrieking from the room at the sight of a creepy crawly. These two work the entire day straight in a room that is full of crickets. It sounds like nighttime and smells like, well, I suppose it smells a whole lot like cricket poo.

Rousmery Bethancourt, who taught me how to identify female crickets, has helped ensure that the frogs are well fed.

These two women are in charge of caring for the crickets and other insects the frogs eat. They have to develop and modify breeding techniques to ensure that the food doesn’t run out. Yesterday Rousmery and Nancy reported that they’ve got 85 boxes of crickets—too many for the frogs here at Summit, so we’ll take the leftovers to the other project facility, El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center, on Friday. After months of trying to figure out how to produce enough crickets, too many insects is a blessing.

Lastly, there’s Lanky, who is the jack of all trades, helping do a little bit of everything, as needed. Unlike the others, who get up early and take the bus (or two) to work, Lanky takes a boat in from the Wounaan Village of San Antonio in Gamboa. He carves the most beautiful frogs out of tagua nuts, most of which are species we have in captivity. The details are so intricate it’s as though the frog might up and hop away at the first sign of a cricket.

These five are all biology experts and love frogs unabashedly. They are now among my frog heroes and if we can harness their passion and make sure it spreads, I am certain amphibians stand a fighting chance.

–Lindsay Renick Mayer, Smithsonian’s National Zoo

Picture this:

It’s dinnertime in Panama and the Summit Zoo Diner is a-hopping: frogs of different colors and different sizes line up to receive their three-course meal after tucking in their plastic bibs. They start with an appetizer of delectable springtails, wriggling to perfection. Then it’s on to the main course of live crickets, grown to size. This is all followed by dessert—recently bred fruit flies—served à la carte. When the frogs return to the perches on their leaves, their bellies are full and they have smiles on their faces.

So the bibs and smiles might be a stretch, but the end goal is the same for the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project—to design a menu for each individual frog in captivity that ensures the frog will eat and thrive in its new home. Food preference, however, is only one of many variables that make feeding complicated. A dedicated team of frog whisperers—animal detectives who study the individual frogs to learn their unique habits, quirks, fears and needs—must consider the differences between frogs based on species, gender, age and size to plan the perfect menu.

“The frogs’ perception of the world is, in many aspects, at least as subtle as our own,” says Ed Smith, a biologist at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo who visited the Summit Zoo in Panama City, Panama, earlier this year to help develop husbandry protocols with project researchers. “These are living things and we all perceive the world in a special way; in a very particular way.”

Because many of the priority rescue species haven’t been studied extensively in captivity, project researchers start to learn about what the animals prefer to eat by providing the food that works for species that are closely related. They take into account the frog’s age and size, whether the frog will eat food its own size or items far smaller, if it’s nocturnal or active during the day, if it eats a big item once in a while or snacks on tiny treats throughout the day.

There may also be distractions that affect appetite, including environmental or social conditions: perhaps it’s too warm or too dry, maybe mating takes priority over food, or avoiding a suitor or a combative neighbor is keeping meals a secondary concern. Frogs can be finicky eaters—one might prefer springtails and soil mites to fruit flies and crickets, or grasshoppers, earthworms, or baby mice. Sometimes researchers can determine these traits only through trial and error. And tadpoles present their own challenges—a frog in the larval stage will eat entirely different food as the same frog as an adult.

The rescue project also has to look at external factors that could stress the frogs, causing them not to eat. This includes the design of each aquarium. “If I plucked you from your home and put you into a sterile cube of white walls with a white bottom and white ceiling and then all of the sudden dropped a hamburger in there, even an avid burger fan might not feel like eating,” Smith says. “You might want to make it look and feel more like home in order to reduce stress. A couch would be nice. A kitchen table wouldn’t be bad. Maybe a little bit of air conditioning.”

To give the aquariums a more natural feel, they are outfitted with plants and rocks that are put through a rigorous cleaning process so that the tanks remain biosecure. Animal keepers carefully monitor the temperature, humidity, water and light. Even the time of day that the auto-misters come on matters—baby crickets get stuck in water and die before the frogs can eat them, thus leaving cricket-loving frogs without breakfast, Smith says. 

Focusing on the frogs is only the first part of the husbandry. To keep the frogs alive, the rescue project has to keep the frogs’ food alive and make sure the insects are reproducing. This can be especially challenging when crafty pests are after the same food, temperature plays a role in the success of breeding, and permits and documents needed to bring insect soufflé in take time to process. Some of the food stuff is collected out in the field, where researchers and volunteers use nets to sweep up what they can and pull out potential sustenance. 

One little La Loma tree frog in captivity refused to eat for about a week and it wasn't until the lights went out that Smith and other rescue project members were able to solve the mystery. (Photo credit: Brian Gratwicke, Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project)

Sometimes, even after all of these factors are taken into account, a frog or two still refuses to eat for mysterious reasons. Such was the case for one little La Loma tree frog (Hyloscirtus colymba) during Smith’s time in Panama. It wasn’t until the lights had gone out that Smith and another worker noticed a stream of ants pour out of a piece of bamboo the frog used to perch on. According to Smith, the frog cowered in the corner as the ants raided its food. Although the project team had cleaned the bamboo, the ants were hiding securely between bamboo nodes.

“The name of the game is husbandry,” Smith says. “And husbandry skills are entirely about paying attention to the organism. The people I met who are involved with the project pay an amazing amount of attention to each individual animal. They know their frogs not just as a species, not as male or female, or as a number in a book. They know all of those things, of course, but they know them each as an individual. Serving dinner is relatively easy. Ensuring that it is eaten, however, is often achieved only with that level of understanding.”

 –Lindsay Renick Mayer, Smithsonian’s National Zoo

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.