Fresno zoo leaps to rescue imperiled frog

Published online on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009

After raging forest fires burned thousands of mountain acres this summer in Southern California, the search was on for tiny tadpole survivors.

Because the population of mountain yellow-legged frogs already is depleted in California, scientists worried that their numbers would shrink even further when silt and mud flowed into lakes and streams in the Station Fire burn area of the San Gabriel Mountains east of Los Angeles.

So 106 tadpoles were plucked out of a fire-ravaged stream and sent to their new temporary home: Fresno Chaffee Zoo. The tadpoles should be at the zoo for about two years, the time it takes for them to mature into frogs.

It's the first time the Fresno zoo has participated in a conservation program with other zoos involving local or regional species. Chaffee zoo already had helped with some exotic species, such as the antelopelike addax.

The zoo started making plans last year to provide a home for mountain yellow-legged frogs, which are a federally endangered species in Southern California and are a "species of concern" in Central and Northern California.

Chaffee is becoming more recognized by other zoos and state and federal wildlife officials as a reputable partner in high-profile projects to restore animal populations, said Andy Snider, the zoo's director of animal care and conservation and a nationally known frog expert. And zoos are uniquely qualified to play a role in restoring animal populations.

"It's a testament that people view us as more than just a nice place to take your kids on the weekend," he said. "While that is important, it's also important to be looked at for what you can do scientifically."

The zoo has spent about $6,000 in equipment for the frog project and likely will spend thousands more as the frogs continue to grow.

Zoo director Scott Barton said the money comes from the zoo's conservation budget, which is made up of donations, admissions and money from Measure Z, the 2004 sales-tax measure approved by Fresno County voters. He said the zoo also will consider seeking grants to fund this and similar programs.

"We can do conservation in Africa, but we can also show that conservation is happening at our doorstep, too," he said.

Conservation programs are important for zoos to be active community partners, said Delfi Messinger, director of animal programs for the Jacksonville Zoo in Florida and chair of the field conservation committee for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, an international accreditation organization.

Conservation work at the Jacksonville zoo, where manatee and dolphins are brought after waterway rescues, generates good will in communities, she said.

The Jacksonville zoo uses staff and volunteer hours for rescue operations with Florida state and federal wildlife teams.

"The mission today in a very increasingly urbanized world is to share our passion for wildlife," she said. "We are trying to link the community to [wildlife] and teach how to become more responsive toward animals."

Habitat decimated

Mountain yellow-legged frogs once ranged throughout California's foothills and mountains, but their habitat has been decimated by human activity, fires, effects from global warming and predators, such as non-native trout.

Fifty years ago, the frogs were found in 160 separate populations in Southern California, but that number is down to nine known locations -- a drop of about 95% -- said Frank Santana, a research technician for the San Diego Zoo's Institute of Conservation Research.