VICTORY!

The California Fish & Game Commission voted unanimously today to grant endangered status to the Mountain Yellow-Legged Frogs (Rana sierrae and R. muscosa), which have disappeared from over 90% of their historic range. Thanks to the 1,573 SAVE THE FROGS! supporters who sent in letters on behalf of the frogs. While endangered species status does not guarantee success in saving the species, it is a clear step in the right direction.

At one time a common sight at lakes, ponds and streams throughout the Sierra Nevadas, California’s Mountain Yellow-Legged Frog are now completely gone from over 90% of the sites they once inhabited.

The UK charity Froglife has awarded SAVE THE FROGS! Founder Dr. Kerry Kriger the 2012 Newt Year Honour for The High Profile Person Representing Amphibians and Reptiles, saying: “Dr Kriger has initiated a global Save The Frogs Day, inspiring people all over the world to celebrate, learn more about and raise funds to protect frogs and their habitats into the future.” Previous honours have gone to Sir David Attenborough, Stephen Fry, Monty Python’s Terry Jones, and the creators of Bagpuss for the magical Gabriel the Toad.

SAVE THE FROGS! hopes to extend its amphibian conservation movement to Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a small country with rich biodiversity in South East Asia. The amphibian populations are declining rapidly and it is assumed that many unknown species may go extinct before they are identified. The major threats to amphibians are the use of pesticides, climate change, habitat destruction, frog dissections, deforestation, and the illegal export of frog legs. Dr. Kerry Kriger, Founder of SAVE THE FROGS!, has offered to help Nurul Islam and Dr. Shahneaz Ali Khan create a SAVE THE FROGS! Bangladesh.

The five members of SAVE THE FROGS! Bangladesh have already had their first meeting in Chittagong, Bangladesh. On December 14, 2011 they visited a school in a remote village near Sitakundu Eco Park. The students aged from 12-17 and were taught about amphibian conservation and the importance of frogs. They distributed some outreach material among the students illustrating the role of frogs to the ecosystem and their threats.

SAVE THE FROGS! Bangladesh in action conducting an amphibian conservation education program in Bangladesh.

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The City of Santa Cruz voted unanimously today (January 24, 2012) to ban the sale, release, importation and possession of American Bullfrogs. This makes Santa Cruz the first city in the country to take such a step, and sets an important precedent for other jurisdictions to follow. The non-native frogs spread chytrid fungus and prey on native wildlife. California currently imports several million of the bullfrogs into the state each year. This is the first piece of legislation SAVE THE FROGS! has gotten passed. On February 28, 2012 the County of Santa Cruz will vote on similar legislation. We are currently petitioning the Governor Jerry Brown to make statewide bullfrog legislation.

Read these two news stories for more info on the bullfrog ban
– Public News Service article
– KION article

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE TECHNICIANS (AQUATIC WILDLIFE):

The National Park Service is seeking up to six aquatic technicians for the 2012 summer field season in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (SEKI).

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A MSc position is available at the University of Alberta, Edmonton
Alberta, Canada, with Dr. Cindy Paszkowski (University of Alberta,
Biological Sciences) and Dr. Garry Scrimgeour (Parks Canada) to work
on Long-toed Salamanders (Ambystoma macrodactylum) in spectacular
Waterton Lakes National Park in the Rocky Mountains of southeastern
Alberta.   Read the rest of this post »

SAVE THE FROGS! Founder Dr. Kerry Kriger and Advisory Chairman Michael Starkey were pleased to be featured on the Dr. Future Radio Show December 20th. Listen to the full 45-minute interview here!

Toad-like ‘inner eye’ makes it hard to look away, York researcher says
The Canadian Press    December 15, 2011

As the Founder & Executive Director of SAVE THE FROGS!, the world’s leading amphibian conservation organization, and as a former citizen of San Francisco, I feel obligated to respond to the Chronicle’s recent editorial “On Golf Versus Critters”, which incorrectly describes the Sharp Park Golf Course as being suitable habitat for endangered frogs, and dangerously labels people who care about protecting San Francisco’s wildlife populations as “hard-line environmentalists”.

Wetlands are among the most endangered ecosystems on the planet and over 90 percent of California’s coastal wetlands have been destroyed. So I do not consider myself an extremist for thinking it is unethical and outdated that the City of San Francisco is using taxpayer funds to pump the Sharp Park Wetlands out to sea to create dry land for golfing at Sharp Park. Draining the wetlands strands the egg masses of federally endangered California Red-Legged Frogs. The City’s pumps are situated at the most important Red-Legged Frog breeding pond and they suck the tadpoles out to sea. The endangered San Francisco Garter Snakes that inhabit the site depend on the frogs as a food source, and as the frogs go, so do the snakes. It is not “hard-line” to want to protect the endangered species that bear the name of my favorite city and state; rather, it is my duty as a Californian.
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Late is better than never, right? We’ll be adding the week in frog news to the FrogBlog every week now, thanks to Kristin Womack for taking charge of the compilation.