VISALIA, Calif. – Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains are now home to more than three dozen yellow-legged frogs recently released by staff from the Oakland Zoo.
During the first week of August, the zoo said 43 mountain yellow-legged frogs were flown by helicopter to their release site near Laurel Lake.
The event marked the 1,000th yellow-legged amphibian released by the zoo during conservation efforts designed to save the species from disappearing entirely.
Biologists said the frogs are part of a broader recovery program designed to pull the species back from the brink of extinction.
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Mountain yellow-legged frog photo
(Oakland Zoo/Steven Gotz / FOX Weather)
Scientists attribute much of the population collapse to chytridiomycosis, a deadly fungal disease that has impacted animal populations worldwide.
In California, experts estimate the yellow-legged frog population has plummeted by more than 90%.
Additionally, habitat loss, pollution, climate change and the introduction of non-native species have further accelerated the decline.
“Releasing our 1,000th mountain yellow-legged frog is a major milestone. It’s a number that you hope to achieve when you start a program. This milestone has been reached because of the numerous dedicated staff members and volunteers who have been involved with this program over the years. We need to keep this movement going to continue helping native California wildlife and make sure that these frogs don’t disappear,” Samantha Sammons, a wildlife recovery program manager at the Oakland Zoo, said in a statement.
Before their release, each frog was said to be fitted with a tiny microchip, so researchers can track their movements and behaviors.
The mountain yellow-legged frog was officially listed as federally endangered in 2014 and is typically found in the higher elevations of California and parts of Oregon.
Los Angeles, CA – October 02:Critically endangered southern mountain yellow-legged frogs gather together in a tank in a breeding room at the Los Angeles Zoo on Tuesday, October 2, 2018, as biologists gather tadpoles to release in a San Gabriel Mountain stream, their natural habitat. They have raised and released around 1500 tadpoles from frogs raised from tadpoles saved after the Station Fire with hopes of saving the species from extinction.
(Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the frog gets its name from the yellow coloring on its belly and the underside of its rear legs.
Its diet includes snails, moths, grasshoppers, hornets, ants and other aquatic and land-dwelling invertebrates.
The zoo said it plans to expand its recovery program by using genetic rescue techniques, such as storing frog DNA for future use, and by improving breeding methods to raise more frogs for future reintroductions.
