Frog conservation at local zoo

Listening to the chirps and calls from frogs and toads can be very relaxing after a long day, but what if there were no frogs. This is the reality for many places around the world where frogs have disappeared. They have been declining for years and scientists say that a hundred species of amphibians are already gone.

People seem to take them for granted; they use pesticides in their yards without realizing or caring about what kind of impact it has on the environment and amphibians. Pesticides cause deformities and affect the animals breeding abilities.

Besides living amongst harmful chemicals, frogs have to compete for land with non-native species.

Not only that, amphibians are faced with habitat destruction, air pollution, global warming, the pet trade and the chytrid fungus. A fungus that comes from plants and occurs worldwide. It kills the amphibian by clogging its skin and causing it to dry up.

But all is not lost. Many zoos and aquariums are involved in amphibian conservation. Lowry Park zoo, located in Tampa, is breeding frogs and releasing their tad poles back into the wild. Though, these tad poles are still susceptible to all the threats facing amphibians today. The hope is that they will help aid the depleting wild populations.

The two species that they are breeding are the Puerto Rican crested toad and the Panamanian golden frog. I spoke with a herps and aquatics keeper during a story assignment for my advance reporting class and he provided me with a tour of the frog breeding tanks located off exhibit.

Photos of the golden Panamanian frog and the Puerto Rican crested toad taken at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa

It wasn’t difficult to witness his passion for amphibians. He carefully removes the frog and toad eggs from the tanks and places them into a homemade incubator. That way he can make sure that they hatch into tap poles.

Currently, the zoo is only releasing the crested toad tad poles, but they plan on releasing the golden frog ones, as well. Conservation and education are vital to saving these species. In order to inform the public about the amphibian crisis, the zoo is going to transform its education building into an amphibian house.

If people want to get involved with frog conservation, they should volunteer with the frog listening network in their area. If someone is interested all he or she has to do is contact their state’s wildlife center to get more information. It is pretty simple. The frog listening network here in the Hillsborough area provides volunteers with an audio CD that teaches them how to identify frog and toad species in the area by their calls.

It is time that everyone did something to aid in conservation, for once these species disappear it will be too late.