Category Archives: chytridiomycosis

The Sixth Extinction in Motion

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Endangered species across the world have found allies in a neat partnership between MacQuarrie Byrne Films, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Tennessee. The idea behind the Sixth Extinction in Motion project is to use communication/graphic design to play an active role in changing the course of history, specifically in curbing the terrifyingly rapid extinction rate. According to the Sixth Extinction’s blog, “Communication designers have the power to persuade, educate and inform populations of people on the massive dying-off of our planet.”

While the students involved in the project have created a number of really impressive and compelling videos, we were, of course, most interested in their four frog videos. We are thankful to the students who designed these as they are generously helping us promote the rescue project. Those videos are below, with a brief Q&A by each student who created them. Once you’ve watched these, make sure to check out more of their work here.

Future Generations by Trista Busch (University of Tennessee)


Where did you come up with the idea for your video?
After extensive research into the initial problem of the endangerment of amphibians, I decided to focus on the most prevalent and immediate issues affecting the species. Pollution and environmental problems are occurrences that we can all combat, or support research for the fight against the extinction of such important creatures to our ecosystem.  Because frogs are a cherished part of my childhood, I decided to focus my efforts on illustrating the destructiveness of pollution on our children’s future memories, and how that in turn will affect the outcome of our efforts.

Why is it important to get this message out there?
Misinformation of existing environmental issues is almost more detrimental than ignorance. Spreading knowledge is the first step in the right direction. Without being well informed, we are not able to recognize and address the problem.

What was the most surprising thing that you learned in your research?
Well, one third of the amphibian populations are endangered!  If amphibians were to go extinct the occurrence would be the greatest mass extinction since the dinosaurs.

What do you hope people take away from your video?
I can only hope that people feel a sense of urgency in this pressing matter and at least walk away a little more informed and motivated to contribute.

Vanishing by Samia Ahmed (Carnegie Mellon University)

Where did you come up with the idea for your video?

After spending time researching frogs and their extinction, I became very aware of the lack of frogs in my life–the last time I remember hearing the sound of a frog in the wild was in elementary school. I wanted to focus on that iconic sound because it is something immersive that hopefully lets the viewer “feel” the loss of frog populations as opposed to just reading about it.

Why is it important to get this message out there?

I think it’s important to learn about things like this because the more time I spend learning about animal extinction, the more I see how our actions on a personal level of simply conserving energy and resources, as well as on government level of policy and regulation have far reaching results, a lot of which are the destruction of life.

What was the most surprising thing that you learned in your research?

I was most surprised at learning about the alarming rate of loss for frog populations. It’s so easy to not see the things we are losing until they are gone.

What do you hope people take away from your video?

I hope that people remember that there is a bigger picture out there and that there are complexities to the results of our actions whether we intend them or not.

When Frogs are Gone by Janeane Robinson (University of Tennessee)


Where did you come up with the idea for your video?
I wanted to base my video on plain facts.  Since it’s not a problem that not many are familiar with, it’s the facts that hit the hardest.  The decision to show no actual frogs or amphibians and just focus on type and audio was an easy one for me.  I’ve always liked the audio aspect of videos and how haunting it can be.  The sound of frogs is somewhat nostalgic for most people and I wanted to play on this.

Why is it important to get this message out there?
It’s important for people to realize that their actions, and sometimes inactions, do have affects on others.  I believe that every living thing has a purpose–one that we might not even be aware of yet. When we start making decisions with no regard to life, everything starts to break down.  Everything is connected, and when one life is taken it sets off a chain reaction. Our only hope for a future is taking care of the lives we have in the present.

What was the most surprising thing you learned in your research?
Never would I have guessed that frogs, and the entire amphibian race, were going extinct.  It’s something that never crossed my mind or was ever brought to my attention.  When I started researching, I was shocked at how large and widespread this problem actually is. This is the biggest obstacle.  Once more people become familiar with the problem, we have a chance to fix it.

What do you hope people take away from your video?
I hope that this brings awareness to the people, who like me, don’t even realize there’s a problem.  Awareness is the first step in solving a problem, but I feel it’s also the easiest.  It’s much harder to move people to take responsibility for behaviors and actions that may be affecting others.  However, by planting a little seed of awareness, I hope it pushes people to making more conscious decisions.

Green-Eyed Frogs by Frances Soong (Carnegie Mellon University)

Where did you come up with the idea for your video?
From the start, I had been fascinated by the fact that frogs are so sensitive to the changes in their surroundings as they breathe and absorb toxins through their skin—acting as the new “canaries in the coal mine.” I wanted to make sure my video made that connection between frogs and the world and conveyed the idea that a “sick frog” meant a “sick world.”

Why is it important to get this message out there?
There are a lot of animals and ecosystems dying and in need of saving (as you can see by looking at the videos from the rest of our classes), but I think this direct connection they have with their environment is unique to frogs and other amphibians. It makes them all that more significant too.

What was the most surprising thing that you learned in your research?
The most surprising thing was definitely finding out how low the numbers actually were for the frog population, especially when compared to the number of people on this planet. Other things like causes for the frog and amphibian population declines was a lot harder to pinpoint… at some point I was totally sure chytrid fungus was the cause of everything and then I looked into the causes of that… it’s a never-ending process.

What do you hope people take away from your video?
In my video, I basically tell people to consume less, stop using cars, and to stop wasting energy and resources to save the frogs. But even if you didn’t think frogs were that cute or that saving them was that important before, I hope that knowing how frogs fit in the larger picture of the world will motivate more people to want to do learn more and do more in general.

—Lindsay Renick Mayer, Smithsonian’s National Zoo

Workshop in Chile targets the protection of the Chilean frog

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Workshop participants

About 30 government officials and biologists from both academia and national zoos joined Defenders of Wildlife's international conservation expert Alejandra Goyenechea to share ideas about how to conserve their Chilean frog. (Photo courtesy of Defenders of Wildlife)

Frogs all over the world are in trouble as the result of a number of challenges: Habitat destruction, over use, pollution, and as we all know, chytrid.  All of the rescue project’s partners are working on multiple fronts to save the frogs.

Defenders of Wildlife has zeroed in on the plight of the Chilean frog. This little green giant lurks in the temperate forests of Chile but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find.

The Chilean frog (known variously as Calyptocephalella gayi and Caudiverbera caudiverbera) is able to mask its relatively massive girth in the trees of the Andean foothills, thanks to its knobby back and splotchy verdant skin. But this nifty camouflage isn’t enough to save it from over-collection by locals who both eat the frog and sell them illegally to other countries.

What’s worse, Chilean frogs are losing habitat quickly in central Chile where growing urban centers are pushing the creatures out of their native homes. Agricultural runoff and other forms of water pollution also threaten the frogs’ ability to survive.

Chilean frog

Chilean frogs have seen a 30 percent decline in the population over the last ten years. (Photo courtesy of Jose Grau, Puerto Montt)

The result is a 30 percent decline in the population over the last ten years—an alarming drop-off that could spell disaster for this endemic species in the coming decades. Climate change could further accelerate their demise by raising water temperatures just a few degrees above what these cool-water creatures can tolerate.

Fortunately, the Chilean government has taken notice and is now enlisting conservation experts and biologists to come up with a plan to save Chilean frogs. The frogs were given “vulnerable” status by the Chilean government in 2008 and are already on the IUCN Red List, but no formal conservation plan has been adopted. Having such a plan in place is a requirement for listing under Appendix III of CITES, a move that would put a legal requirement  on foreign trade and help raise awareness.

On Nov. 23, Defenders’ international conservation expert Alejandra Goyenechea ran a day-long workshop in Santiago, Chile’s capital, to identify key threats to the species and brainstorm ways to protect the frogs’ future.

About 30 government officials and biologists from both academia and national zoos joined Alejandra to share ideas about how to conserve their Chilean frog. The group recommended changes to agricultural laws to limit water pollution and identified needs for further research and education. Officials from the Chilean agriculture ministry will use the information gathered from the workshop to write a conservation plan to be submitted to the CITES Secretariat.

—Cindy Hoffman, Defenders of Wildlife

An update from Summit Zoo

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Toad Mountain harlequin frogs

A pair of the project's Toad Mountain harlequin frogs (Atelopus certus) were in amplexus for about 100 days and recently produced a clutch of eggs. (Photo by: Jorge Guerrel, Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project)

Hi amigos!

We are glad to give you the latest update on what is going on with our frogs here at the Panamanian Rescue and Conservation Project at the Summit Zoo in Panama. And we are going to start with some great news: After almost 100 days of a very long amplexus (from the latin “embrace,” amplexus is a form of pseudocopulation in which a male amphibian grasps a female with his front legs as part of the mating process), we have our very first Toad Mountain harlequin frog (Atelopus certus) clutch!

This is huge news especially since A. certus is facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild and is classified as “endangered” by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The Toad Mountain harlequin frog is an endemic species from the Darien region of eastern Panama and little is known about its reproductive and breeding behavior. From observations made here at the Summit Zoo in Panama, we have noticed some interesting behavior. For example, during amplexus, the male A. certus holds on to the female so tight that he won’t eat for three months or more. We are taking notes and paying attention to the smallest change in water quality and temperature in their tank to assure the largest number of juveniles possible.

La loma tree frog morph

The rescue project is the first ever to successfully breed the La loma tree frog. (Photo by: Jorge Gurrel)

The rest of the group is doing just fine. The La loma treefrog (Hyloscirtus colymba) tadpoles are growing and some have fully developed legs, though we still need to wait until they come out of the water and absorb the tail to place them in their new individual tanks. The baby Limosa harlequin frogs (Atelopus limosus) are bigger and stronger–they have been eating lots of springtails and we are making sure that UV light is always available to them to prevent any bone disease.

The male adults are calling very often, especially early in the morning for our diurnal species, such as the Pirre harlequin frog (Atelopus glyphus). The rest of the harlequin frogs, H. colymba and our single male Bob’s robber frog (Craugastor punctariolus) call to attract their females throughout the night, particularly when is raining. We are also testing a few ways to feed the big C. punctariolus so we can offer them a variety of food as part of their diet.

Thanks to our collaborators and volunteers for all their suggestions and new ideas.

That’s all for now, but we will continue to keep you updated. Thanks for your support!

-Angie Estrada, Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project

Rescue Project First to Breed Critically Endangered Tree Frog

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Atelopus limosus

The Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project has successfully bred the endangered Limosa harlequin frog, Atelopus limosus. (Credit: Angie Estrada, Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project)

As frogs around the world continue to disappear—many killed by a rapidly spreading disease called chytridiomycosis, which attacks the skin cells of amphibians—one critically endangered species has received an encouraging boost. Although the La Loma tree frog, Hyloscirtus colymba, is notoriously difficult to care for in captivity, the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project is the first to successfully breed this species.

“We are some of the first researchers to attempt to breed these animals into captivity and we have very little information about how to care for them,” said Brian Gratwicke, international coordinator for the project and a research biologist at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, one of nine project partners. “We were warned that we might not be able to keep these frogs alive, but through a little bit of guesswork, attention to detail and collaboration with other husbandry experts—we’ve managed to breed them. The lessons we’re learning have put us on target to save this incredible species and our other priority species in Panama.”

The rescue project currently has 28 adult La Loma tree frogs and four tadpoles at the Summit Municipal Park outside of Panama City, Panama. In addition to the La Loma tree frog, the project also has successfully bred the endangered Limosa harlequin frog, Atelopus limosus. Keepers will continue to carefully monitor the tadpoles of both species.

H. colymba

Although the La Loma tree frog, Hyloscirtus colymba, is notoriously difficult to care for in captivity, the rescue project is the first to successfully breed this species. (Credit: Brian Gratwice, Smithsonian's National Zoo)

Nearly one-third of the world’s amphibian species are at risk of extinction. The rescue project aims to save more than 20 species of frogs in Panama, one of the world’s last strongholds for amphibian biodiversity. While the global amphibian crisis is the result of habitat loss, climate change and pollution, chytridiomycosis is likely at least partly responsible for the disappearances of 94 of the 120 frog species thought to have gone extinct since 1980.

“Although the outlook for amphibians is grim, the rescue project’s recent developments give us hope for these unique Panamanian species,” said Roberto Ibáñez, local director of the project and a scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, one of the project’s partners. “We are creating what amounts to an ark for these animals so that their species may survive this deadly disease. We’re also looking for a cure so that someday we can safely release the frogs back into the wild.”

Of Panama’s six harlequin frog species, five are in collections at the Summit Zoological Park and the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center in El Valle, Panama. One species, the Chiriqui harlequin frog, A. chiriquiensis, from western Panama, is likely extinct. The other species range from being extinct in the wild—the Panamanian golden frog, A. zeteki—to being endangered.

The mission of the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project is to rescue amphibian species that are in extreme danger of extinction throughout Panama. The project’s efforts and expertise are focused on establishing assurance colonies and developing methodologies to reduce the impact of the amphibian chytrid fungus so that one day captive amphibians may be reintroduced to the wild. Project participants include Africam Safari, Panama’s Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Defenders of Wildlife, El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center, Houston Zoo, Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Summit Municipal Park and Zoo New England.

# # #

Media only: contact Lindsay Renick Mayer, Smithsonian’s National Zoo, 202-633-3081

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Mantellas on the Move

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Black-eared Mantella froglets bred at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

An adult blue-legged Mantella. (Photo credit: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo)

A hop, skip, and a jump from Panama (well, a little farther than that), the Mantellas are fighting their own battle with potential extinction on an island off the coast of Africa. Madagascar is home to 16 species of the frogs, which are endemic to the country, but collection for pet trade and deforestation are threatening their survival.

We first told you about Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s Mantella captive breeding program last fall. It was animal keeper Jeff Baughman’s goal to establish a breeding program for the frogs within the zoo community, and over the past year, he did just that. In a matter of weeks, Baughman’s first batch of 70 captive-bred blue-legged and black-eared Mantellas will be on the move to AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) zoos around the country.

People are drawn to the bright colors of the Mantella, colors that rival those of the more familiar poison dart frogs in Central and South America. However, only a handful of zoos in the U.S. have the endangered blue-legged and critically endangered black-eared species. Baughman started by bringing a collection from a trusted captive breeding source to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s off-exhibit Amphibian Conservation Center. He then created an environment similar to Madagascar’s less humid winter months, followed by increased humidity and daylight to simulate the rainy season. The females laid their eggs in March, and the end result is about 35 blue-legged and 35 black-eared Mantellas.

Chytrid has not yet spread to Madagascar, but if it does, the effect would be devastating. Because Mantella populations are so fragmented, they could easily be wiped out by the fungus. That’s why the Wildlife Conservation Society and other experts are looking at creating a facility in Madagascar, similar to the one in Panama.

What can you do to save frogs? If you’re buying them as pets, it’s important to find out where they came from. Make sure you get your frogs from a trusted captive breeding source and avoid buying frogs caught in the wild.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo guests are helping frogs, too. In 2008 – 2009, the zoo’s Quarters for Conservation program supported a conservation and research organization in helping protect Mantella frogs in Madagascar. With every visit this year, zoo guests can vote to provide funding to the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project.

—Katie Borremans, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Frog Fantasmas

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Jar of frogs

Researchers collected these dead frogs from sites where the fungus is moving through. (Photo credit: Karen Lips, University of Maryland)

Booo! Halloween’s over but ghost stories linger. In Panama, holiday season has begun! Nov. 3 marked the start of a long string of holidays–Independence from Colombia and from Spain this month, Mother’s Day, Chaunukah and Christmas in December, summer vacation for kids during the dry season, and ending up with Carnival festivities in February and back to school in March.

Yesterday my family piled into the car for the day-long drive up into the Chiriqui highlands near the border of Panama and Costa Rica.

We slept very well last night in the cool mountains where it’s extremely quiet compared to our home on the border of Soberania National Park in the lowlands where they say that the night time forest sound reaches 50 decibels–and a big part of that sound comes from frogs.

For some reason that no one understands, the chytrid fungus pathogen doesn’t seem to kill frogs in the lowlands, where it is sometimes found, but it decimates all amphibian populations along highland streams.

Earlier this month I had the wonderful opportunity to take an interpretation course offered by the National Association for Interpretation as part of a USAID tourist guide training program organized by Panama’s Association for Sustainable Tourism (APTSO). Each of the student guides was asked to share a story that they tell visitors to Panama that touches their hearts.

Carlos Fonseca, a young guide from Chiriqui, told that he and his brother used to spend summer days playing along streams in the highlands where they loved to find frogs…colorful frogs with pale white underbellies and even glass frogs that you can see through! About ten years ago, the chytrid epidemic passed through, and now the kids who play there don’t even know that there were frogs there.

Insects and birds dominate a cloud forest soundscape that used to ping and croak.

So, we’ll go for long walks in the woods on our weekend trip–we will see rainbows and maybe even a resplendant quetzal–and we’ll keep our eyes open for survivors–the few frogs that either managed to escape or were resistant to the disease.

Due to the vision of researchers like Karen Lips, from the University of Maryland, who first saw the fungus coming into Panama from Costa Rica, Roberto Ibanez, from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Brian Gratwicke from the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park, a rescue effort was mounted to save Panama’s frogs.  Now, with support from Panama’s Environmental Authority (ANAM) and Summit Nature Park in Panama and eight other partner institutions in the United States, the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation project rescues frogs in Eastern Panama where the fungus hasn’t been yet. It is one of the few examples of proactive conservation of species that otherwise would be doomed, and, to that end, offers a kind of hope that is rare in this world.

–Beth King, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Defenders of Wildlife Strives for Another Miracle in Chile

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Chilean frog (Calyptocephalella gayi)

Defenders of Wildlife, one of the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project partners will be working with the Chilean government to come up with a conservation plan for the Chilean frog (Calyptocephalella gayi).

Chile is in the news these days for good reason—33 miners trapped 2,000 feet under the earth for 70 days. But with dedication and perseverance, experts from Chile and others from across the globe managed to rescue every single one of these miners as we all looked on. That perseverance and dedication will be critical to rescue something else as well: the Chilean frog (Calyptocephalella gayi, also known as Caudiverbera caudiverbera). 

Defenders of Wildlife, which is already helping to save Panamanian species of frogs as part of the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project, is preparing a workshop with the government of Chile to design a Conservation Plan for the Chilean frog. This planning is part of the requirement from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to include the frog in Appendix III. This means that international trade of these animals is allowed only on presentation of the appropriate permits or certificates.

The Chilean frog is native to Chile and classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Its population has declined 30 percent over the last 10 years as the result of over-exploitation for the food and pet industry and habitat loss for development of agriculture. Like many species of frogs in Panama and across the world, these frogs may also be susceptible to the deadly chytrid disease. Between 2003 and 2007, more than 10,800 wild specimens were imported to the United States for commercial purposes. This little guy is in trouble, but with luck another miracle can be pulled off in Chile. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

The workshop will take place Nov. 23 in Santiago de Chile, Chile. Participants will include academia, scientists, governmental officials and civil society. For more information, contact Alejandra Goyenechea.

—Cindy Hoffman, Defenders of Wildlife

Houston Zoo receives AZA top honors for El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center

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EVACC

The El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center is the only place in Panama where Panamanian golden frogs live. (Photo by: Lindsay Renick Mayer, Smithsonian's National Zoo)

Five years ago, a small contingent of Houston Zoo staff arrived in the El Valle region of western-central Panama.  The group was made up of biologists, zoo keepers and members of the Zoo’s facilities department.  The diverse group had one common goal–create a facility on the grounds of the El Nispero Zoo that would serve as a living repository to prevent the extinction of the threatened amphibian species of El Valle.

Unfortunately, amphibian chytrid arrived in the region earlier than anticipated.  While construction of what would become the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center, or EVACC, proceeded, temporary facilities were developed at a nearby hotel as a staging site for a rapid response rescue program.

In March of 2007, the off-exhibit portion of the facility was in operation and last year construction was finished on the exhibition portion of the facility.

On September 8 of this year, at the Association of Zoos and Aquariums 86th annual conference, the Houston Zoo received the AZA’s Top Honors 2010 International Conservation Award, the AZA’s highest level of recognition, for its leadership in establishing the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center (EVACC) in western-central Panama. 

The award carries the name of the Houston Zoo and recognizes the broad support for the effort that involved every area of the Zoo.  But EVACC could not have been realized without the support of more than a dozen contributing institutions including Amphibian Ark, Atlanta Botanical Gardens, BREC’s Baton Rouge Zoo, Buffalo Zoo, Cleveland

EVACC

EVACC is the home to more than 60 species of frogs. (Photo by: Lindsay Renick Mayer, Smithsonian's National Zoo)

Metroparks Zoo, Dickerson Park Zoo, Fresno Chaffee Zoo, Oklahoma City Zoo, Roger Williams Park Zoo, Rosamond Gifford Zoo, San Diego Zoo, Sedgwick County Zoo, Seneca Park Zoo, Utah’s Hogle Zoo, Zoo Atlanta and Zoo New England.  The institutions provided staffing, technical, financial and logistical assistance in a number of phases including facilities (electrical and carpentry), graphics/signage, veterinary, husbandry and invertebrate rearing capabilities.

Today, the public exhibition area of EVACC, which opened in April of 2009, exhibits 23 ambassador species amongst an immersing mural depicting the mountainous cloud forest of El Valle. A center exhibit features Panamanian golden frogs and a stream habitat reminiscent of their natural home in Panama. In fact, this exhibit is the only place in the country where Panamanians can view their cultural icon.

The EVACC project has reached a wide and demographically varied global audience. It is estimated that at least 10 million people have heard about the global amphibian crisis through the context of EVACC.  It’s an enduring example of the impact of teamwork by dedicated zoo professionals.

–Brian Hill, Houston Zoo

Keepers on the Front Lines

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The five keepers for the rescue project at Summit Zoo (left to right): Nancy Fairchild, Rousmary Betancourt, Angie Estrada, Jorge Guerrel, Lanky Cheucarama.

The five keepers for the rescue project at Summit Zoo (left to right): Nancy Fairchild, Rousmary Betancourt, Angie Estrada, Jorge Guerrel, Lanky Cheucarama.

(Versión en Español)

Our next door neighbors are: a margay cat named Derek, a couple of Geoffroy’s tamarins and an ocelot. Across the street lives a troop of white face capuchins and every day we pass the parrots as they try to hit on us and say “hola,” no matter how many times we ignore them.

We are the keepers at the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project at the Summit Municipal Park in Panama.

We take care of 191 frogs, from seven species, all of them native to Panama. Though each one of us has our own favorite frog—Kuno, Danielito, Chasky, James Bond and Survivor, for example—we make sure they all have everything they need to be happy and safe in their home at the zoo.

Our frogs need a lot of attention! We have to keep them healthy, clean and fed. Maybe it doesn’t sound like that big of a deal, but each of those tasks takes a tremendous team effort, a high level of responsibility, tons of time and even a bit of intuition.

To ensure healthy frogs, first we treat the animals for chytridiomicosis (a skin disease caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or Bd) once they get back from rescue missions in the mountains of eastern Panama. Chytridiomicosis is a fungal skin disease that’s been killing amphibians in the wild for more than two decades and that is spreading fast. Treatment days are awful! We often get nervous and anxious because we know that for some of the frogs it’ll be too late, but we’re relieved at the same time when the majority of them survive. After they are treated, the new frogs are ready to be part of our collection. The hard part really comes after treatment.

A chytrid-free frog does not automatically mean a healthy frog. Before and after they become part of our collection, the frogs can be underweight or have parasites. It is part of our job to hand feed them if necessary and sometimes to remove very active worms under their skin. We need to make sure the frogs take their medicine on time, with the correct dose and with proper follow-up. None of this would be possible without the help and supervision of a group of vets and keepers from other conservation centers and zoos who trained us and are patient enough to receive a lot of emails and phone calls from us.

Hyloscirtus colymba

One of the many frogs that keepers for the rescue project care for at Summit Zoo. (This is la loma tree frog, or Hyloscirtus colymba)

Frogs don’t need to take a bath to stay clean, though their environment needs to be cleaned regularly. Amphibians are very sensitive to changes in their habitat because of their permeable skin and the fact that during metamorphosis, they spend part of their life stages in both ecosystems: aquatic and terrestrial. These are some of the reasons why they are declining so rapidly in the wild. When permeable skin comes in contact with contaminated water or soil, frogs can get infected by Bd. In our control environment in the pod, we need to clean the frogs’ enclosures, especially the ones in quarantine. We change and clean all the tanks twice a week, change and clean their plants and leaves, spray water on the tanks that don’t have misting systems and remove the feces.

Last but not least: frogs need to eat! What do our frogs eat? We would need many blog posts to fully explain how we manage to keep alive a room full of two species of fruit flies, springtails and earthworms; and an even larger room with 95 plastic boxes full of crickets and a couple containers of superworms. The latest additions to the menu are a working colony of cockroaches and a brand new outdoors house for grasshoppers. You can say that these frogs are well fed…maybe too well. They eat so much that we’re even putting a few of them on a diet this week!

Summit keepers cups

Frogs are clearly always on the minds of the rescue project's keepers at Summit Zoo.

Did we mention that all of this is not enough to save the species? To do that, we need to breed them too. Reproduction is a very different story. We basically need to create the perfect scenario so the frogs can get in the mood. And getting them in the mood can take from two days (such as for the Toad Mountain harlequin frog, or Atelopus certus) or eight months (as is the case for La Loma leaf frogs, or Hyloscirtus colymba).

This is part of our daily work; we love it and we are very proud of it. Though some people call us “frog heroes,” we are proud to be part of a group of scientists, keepers, vets, volunteers and frog lovers who are trying to safe these beautiful and interesting animals all over the world.

–Angie Estrada, Nancy Fairchild, Rousmary Bethancourt, Jorge Guerrel, Lanky Cheucarama, keepers for the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project at the Summit Zoo in Panama.