Zoo group heading out to save frogs, save the world
A group from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo leaves for the jungles of Panama on Friday, seeking to rescue tiny frogs from a giant threat.
The deadly chytrid fungus has decimated amphibian populations around the globe. The group of five will travel to a small section of Panamanian rainforest untouched by the fungus — though, like a well-coordinated military attack, the fungus is approaching the area from north and south.
Bob Chastain, zoo president and CEO, will lead the group on the weeklong expedition, which will also include representatives from other organizations in the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project. The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is a founding member of the project, formed in spring and made up of eight zoos and research institutions.
The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., were key in getting the project started. The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo had already been involved in a Wyoming toad breeding program, working to preserve a species found in one small area of Wyoming. Chastain, wanting to be involved in a larger effort addressing the worldwide amphibian crisis, called the director of the National Zoo and said, “Let’s save the world.”
The expedition is the first “on-the-ground phase” for the rescue effort. Once in Panama, the group will hike into the jungle for six hours or so, then spend four days collecting various frog species for a captive breeding program — placing them “in protective custody, so to speak,” Chastain said. The ultimate goal: Find a broad cure for the chytrid fungus and reintroduce the protected species back into the wild.
Frogs become active in the evening, so most of the collecting will take place from dusk to the early morning hours, using head lamps to light the way in the blackness of the jungle. Between the frogs’ size — some thumbnail-sized — and the fact that many have natural camouflage that renders them nearly invisible in the jungle, finding them will be the big challenge.
“What’s mind-numbing is you can hear them, but you can’t see them,” Chastain said.
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To follow the group's expedition, go to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's blog.
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Contact the writer at 636-0272
