Endangered frog airlifted from deadly fungus

An epidemic disease spreading on the Caribbean island of Montserrat has recently threatened the already endangered frogs commonly referred to as mountain chicken frogs.

These frogs, nicknamed for their chicken like taste, are currently only found in their natural environment in Montserrat and Dominica.

Dominica is the first place to feel the effects of the rampant disease, chytrid fungus, as it has battled the fungi since 2002.

It is only in the last year that chytrid was discovered to be causing the annihilation of the chicken frogs in Montserrat but the effects have been momentous, with most of the island’s chicken frog population dead or infected.

In fact, although the Zoological Society London (ZSL) monitored Montserrat for the emergence of chytrid fungus it was not until 2008 that the disease was spotted, at which point a great deal of the population had been infected in just two weeks.

In efforts to preserve the mountain frog population fifty mountain frogs were taken from the high lands in the main section of Montserrat, known as Fairy Walk, to be bred in captivity free of chytrid fungus.

Parken Zoo located in Stockholm has taken 24 in, and the ZSL has taken 12, in hopes of recreating the natural habitat of the mountain frogs.

The ultimate hope is that with careful monitoring and a similar habitat the frogs will rapidly reproduce and can be returned to both Dominica and Montserrat in unaffected areas.

At this point scientists and the ZSL in particular will continue to monitor both locations to ensure that the chytrid fungus strands do not reach the healthy mountain chicken frogs.

It is believed that over 100 species of amphibians have been affected by the disease and many have met their demise due to the chytrid fungus which appears to spread rapidly and affect its victim’s immune systems virtually overnight.