Conservationists Trying to Save, Reproduce Endangered Frogs

September 17, 2011

Sierra Llorona is a tropical rainforest in Central Panama. It's rich in all sorts of flora and fauna, especially frogs.

That's what Brian Gratwicke and his team are looking for. He works for the Smithsonian Institution and heads the Amphibian Rescue Project in Panama.

"Frogs are disappearing all over the world," said Gratwicke. "About 40 percent of all of the species that we have sufficient data for, and determined their conservation status, are in danger of extinction."

The group follows the creek for a few hours in search of wild frogs. Jorge Alberto Gonzalez, their guide, is trained in capturing even the tiniest frogs in the jungle.

But it's getting difficult to find them. Scientists estimate that 120 species of frogs have vanished over the past 20 years. Most were wiped out by a disease known as Chytrid fungus.

Gratwicke takes a cotton swab and wipes this frog's feet and stomach to collect samples for analysis. He's looking for signs of the fungus that in recent years has killed nearly 80 percent of the mountain frogs in Central America and is now spreading to warmer, lower regions.

"What we are trying to do with the Panama Amphibian Rescue Project is to go out into western Panama, before the disease hits, and collect as many frogs as we can of the species that we think would go extinct, and once we get the frogs into captivity we'll try to breed them," Gratwicke explained.