Yellow Legged Frog Extinction

http://www.californiaherps.com/frogs/pages/r.muscosa.html
Threatened in the Sierra Nevada, where it is absent from a significant part of its historic range. Endangered in Southern California, where it is absent from 99 percent of its historic range. No frogs have been seen in the San Bernardino mountains or on Mt. Palomar since the 1970's. The fires of 2003 appear to have destroyed the remaining populations and they are now considered extinct in the San Bernardino mountains. Only a few creeks have been found with frogs in the San Gabriel and San Jacinto mountains. The decline has been attributed to many factors, including bullfrogs, trout, airborne pollution, cattle grazing, ozone depletion, mining pollution, off road vehicle disturbance, public dumping, chytrid fungus, fires, and excessive flooding. For more information on the decline of this frog click here.

http://www.usaweekend.com/07_issues/070930/070930science.html
Why we should care if the mountain yellow-legged frog becomes extinct
Why should we care if a frog becomes extinct?

"Like losing a rivet on an airplane, the extinction of a species weakens the interconnected web of the ecosystem," says Reid Harris of Virginia's James Madison University. "Eventually, the plane can lose enough rivets so the plane falls apart and drops out of the sky. Figuratively, the same thing happens when enough species become extinct and the ecosystem collapses."

Frogs are a link in the food chain for mammals, birds and fish. Their loss can reduce the numbers of other species and, in turn, lead to their extinction. Not to mention the effect on humans: Animals and plants provide substances used in important medical drugs. Frogs, specifically, devour insect pests that devastate food crops.

The species that Harris and Vance Vredenburg of San Francisco State University are trying to save is California's mountain yellow-legged frog. "Unless things start turning around for this frog, it is headed for extinction," Vredenburg says. "Just five years ago, it was possible to see the mountain yellow-legged frog populations with thousands of adults and tens of thousands of tadpoles. Today, that is nearly impossible to find."

A deadly fungus is killing off the frog. The good news: Harris discovered a skin bacteria found on red-backed salamanders abundant in Virginia that may kill the fungus.

-- John K. Borchardt

http://cres.sandiegozoo.org/projects/rb_frog_yellow.html
Mountain Yellow-legged Frog Recovery Program
In April 2005, representatives from California Department of Fish & Game, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) met with staff from the San Diego Zoo's Herpetological Department and CRES. The goal was to develop a captive breeding and translocation plan for the only remaining frogs known from the San Bernardino Mountains, as part of an integrated program of captive propagation, headstarting, and release that will ensure the long-term viability of the species in the wild.

The original goal of the program was to attempt captive-breeding of three adult pairs at CRES in large aquaria equipped with specialized filtration and chiller units to provide the frogs with a normal range of winter temperatures. Seven adult frogs were transferred to CRES, but all died due to pre-existing infection. After meetings with the government agencies listed above, it was decided that CRES provided optimal care and the best environment and expertise to manage this species and would be primarily responsible for captive propagation of the species. Removal of individuals in the wild would be at the discretion of USGS and USFWS biologists, but would include both tadpoles and adult frogs.

In August 2006, 75 tadpoles were emergency-salvaged from a drying streambed and transferred to the care of CRES. Some of these will be released back to the wild when conditions are deemed appropriate, while others will remain to establish a captive breeding program once they reach reproductive age. We plan to headstart tadpoles until two years of age, just after metamorphosis and after reaching a less vulnerable stage in the life cycle, then release them back to the wild. The project will end when USFWS determines that captive propagation is no longer useful for recovery efforts, an outcome we expect to be more than 10 years in the future.