Press Release from FROGBOX Seattle – ENDANGERED NATIVE FROGS ARE RELEASED INTO WILD

Photo: More than 1,200 endangered Oregon spotted frogs were released yesterday at a protected site to help restore their populations in Washington state as part of a multi-institutional recovery project

Photo credit: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo

SEATTLE, Wash. – Populations of the native Oregon spotted frog have been decimated by 80 to 90 percent in our own backyard. But thanks to a multi-institutional recovery project, more than 1,200 frogs were released yesterday into the wild at a protected site to help restore their populations in Washington state.

The endangered frogs were collected from wetlands as eggs by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists and placed at Woodland Park Zoo, Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, Oregon Zoo, and Cedar Creek Corrections Center for hatching and rearing for several months in a predator-free home as they transform at metamorphosis – from tadpole to full fledged frog – giving them a “head start” until they are large enough to avoid some predators that might eat them.

Through a partnership with Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the frogs are then released in the Dailman Lake area at Fort Lewis. The protected site contains one of the largest relatively intact wetlands remaining in the Puget Lowlands. “It is suitable for reintroduction because its diverse wetlands are connected to a stream system that can sustain a frog population,” said Jim Lynch, wildlife biologist at JBLM.

Washington declared the Oregon spotted frog an endangered species in 1997. It historically ranged from southwestern British Columbia to northeastern California. However, scientists have seen populations plummet, driving the frog toward extinction. The native amphibian has lost ground to habitat loss from draining and development, disease and the introduction of invasive species such as the American bullfrog. The Oregon spotted frog is now known only in Klickitat and Thurston Counties in Washington state.

Since the collaborative recovery project began in 2007, Oregon spotted frog egg masses were found for the first time at the wild release site in 2011, a very positive sign according to Dr. Marc Hayes, a senior research scientist at Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “This means that some of the frogs we've released in previous years have been thriving and are now successfully breeding.”

The frog reintroduction program is a five-year collaborative effort among Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, Woodland Park Zoo, Oregon Zoo, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, Washington State Department of Corrections, Washington State Department of Transportation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Port Blakely Tree Farms, Washington Department of Natural Resources, U.S Geological Survey, Mountain View Conservation & Breeding Centre and The Nature Conservancy.

Frogs, found in nearly all parts of the world, face major threats of habitat loss, climate change, pollution and pesticides, overharvesting for food and the pet trade. “Since their skin is so permeable, amphibians are sentinel animals that tell us something is not right in the environment,” explained Dr. Jennifer Pramuk, a curator and reptile and amphibian expert at Woodland Park Zoo. “When they're dropping off the face of the planet, it's an early warning to other species, including humans.”

Oregon Spotted Frog (Rana pretiosa)

• Biologists estimate the Oregon spotted frog has disappeared from up to 90% of its former range. The current range of the Oregon spotted frog stretches from southwestern British Columbia, Canada, south through the Puget Sound/Willamette Valley trough and southern Cascade mountains, with its southernmost point in Oregon's Klamath Basin.
• Oregon spotted frogs are highly aquatic. They are found in or near permanent still water, such as lakes, ponds, springs, marshes, and the grassy margins of slow-moving streams.
• The life expectancy of the species is five to eight years in the wild, though most do not live that long.
• In the wild, tadpoles graze on algae and bacteria and other microorganisms that live on the surface of aquatic plants and other hard surfaces, with diatoms and bacteria important in providing nutrition. Both juvenile and adult frogs are carnivores, feeding primarily on insects, spiders, and earthworms. At the zoo, tadpoles eat a pureed mixture of boiled romaine, kale and spirulina. After they transform into juvenile frogs, they are fed live crickets.