Hoppy ending for frogs!

Friday 12 September 2014

One of the world’s rarest species of frog has hopped back into the wild with the help of Durrell.

Fifty-one critically endangered mountain chicken frogs were bred in captivity at Durrell and ZSL London Zoo and released this summer onto the Caribbean Island of Montserrat – their native home.

Durrell conservationists had feared the frogs had been all but wiped out from the eastern-Caribbean Island by a deadly fungus and have been working with UK zoos together with the Governments of Montserrat and Dominica on an International recovery programme for them.

All the frogs have been fitted with tracking devices so that they can be monitored and so that conservationists can learn more about their behaviour in the wild and how the Chytrid fungus - Batrachochytrium dentrobatidis – spreads. It’s one of the most devastating diseases known to affect amphibians worldwide and the reason why conservationists from Durrell and ZSL London Zoo went out to Montserrat on a dramatic rescue mission back in 2009.

Fifty of the last remaining healthy frogs were airlifted to custom-built centres at both wildlife parks as well as Parken Zoo in Sweden to preserve them and develop a healthy population in captivity.

Durrell’s Amphibian Programme Officer Jeff Dawson said: “The current release in Montserrat is the culmination of our four year long mountain chicken project on the island, and the team from Durrell and the Department of Environment has been working tirelessly over the last nine weeks radio tracking the released frogs.

“The data collected will help our understanding around the dynamics of this disease in wild which will be vital in guiding our future conservation actions for this amazing species.”

Tomorrow has been designated International Mountain Chicken Frog Day by conservationists.