Caribbean island's last two rare frogs are reunited

Male and female mountain chicken frogs that were sole survivors of deadly disease are hoped to begin breeding on Montserrat for the first time since 2009

Jessica Aldred

Monday 4 July 201612.56 BSTLast modified on Monday 4 July 201616.26 BST

The last two remaining wild mountain chicken frogs living on Montserrat have been reunited, and are hoped to begin breeding on the Caribbean island for the first time since 2009.

Last month, a project took the last female and relocated her into the territory of the remaining male as part of a 20-year recovery plan for the species, one of the world’s largest and rarest frogs that exists on just two Caribbean islands, Montserrat and Dominica.

The two frogs are the island’s only known survivors of an outbreak of the deadly chytrid fungus disease, a pandemic ravaging amphibian populations worldwide. There are less than 100 left in the wild.

The frogs were living 700m apart among the boulders of a steep, fast-flowing stream in the rainforest at a site known as Fairy Walk. The male had been heard calling for several weeks but after 10 nights of hour-long hikes to the site, the team of conservationists was getting worried that they hadn’t found the female.

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Montserrat's last two mountain chicken frogs to be reunited to save species

Conservationists pin hopes of the species’ survival on breeding the Caribbean island’s last known male and female in the wild

Jessica Aldred

Wednesday 27 April 2016 10.34 BSTLast modified on Wednesday 27 April 201615.23 BST

In what could be a fairytale ending, conservationists are hoping to reunite the last two remaining wild mountain chicken frogs living on Montserrat and help their species breed on the Caribbean island for the first time since 2009.

A project led by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust will next month take the last remaining female and “translocate” her into the territory of the last remaining male as part of a 20-year recovery plan for the species, one of the world’s largest and rarest frogs that exists on just two Caribbean islands, Montserrat and Dominica.

The two frogs are the island’s only known survivors of an outbreak of the deadly chytrid fungus disease, a pandemic ravaging amphibian populations worldwide.

Montserrat’s remaining male and female live roughly 500m apart among the boulders of a steep, fast-flowing stream in the rainforest. Over the next few weeks, the team of conservationists will first try to locate the male by his deep, whooping mating call, which begins as the rains of the breeding season start to fall. Then they will try to find the female further downstream.

Providing the two can be found, the team will move the female into the male’s territory and set up a few artificial nests to encourage her to stay. There will be several weeks of intense monitoring where two conservationists will hike for an hour to and from the stream and spend around six hours every night keeping watch on the female to make sure she hasn’t moved back to her old home.

The ultimate hope is that over the next four months of the breeding season, the two mate and nest, something that has never before been observed in the wild on the island.

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World’s rarest frogs saved from extinction and released in the Caribbean

One of the world’s rarest frogs, the mountain chicken frog, bred as part of an international project to save the species from extinction, has been successfully returned to its Caribbean home ahead of the global day on Saturday to highlight the plight of their species.

Fifty one Critically Endangered mountain chicken frogs, native only to the islands of Montserrat and Dominica, were released back onto Montserrat this summer following a hugely successful breeding programme at Zoological Society of London (ZSL) London Zoo.

In 2009 it was reported by conservationists from ZSL and the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust that the wild population of mountain chicken frogs in Montserrat had severely declined due to disease, and urgent action was needed to safeguard their future.

The frogs had been decimated by the spread of the Chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, and facing the very real threat of extinction. A small population of the last remaining healthy frogs was airlifted from Montserrat in a dramatic rescue mission.

Transported to three custom-built centres at ZSL London Zoo, Durrell in Jersey and Parken Zoo in Sweden, the 50 rescued frogs were the founders of the conservation breeding programme established to preserve and develop a healthy population of the animals, which would have otherwise undoubtedly been destroyed by the fungal disease.

The Mountain Chicken Recovery Programme is a partnership between Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, ZSL, North of England Zoological Society Chester Zoo, Nordens Ark and the Governments of Montserrat and Dominica.

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'Chicken' frogs survive in new home

Critically endangered frogs reintroduced to the Caribbean island of Montserrat are surviving in their new home, according to conservationists.

Three months after releasing captive-bred frogs, the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in Jersey, UK reports they are alive and well.

The "mountain chicken" frogs have declined by as much as 80% in the wild.

A fatal fungal disease is affecting amphibians globally.

Described as "iconic", Leptodactylus fallax are one of the world's largest frog species, with females weighing over 900g.

"Due to their size they have very large meaty thighs which they use to leap long distances," said Sarah-Louise Smith, project co-ordinator for the Mountain Chicken Recovery Programme.

Unfortunately this particular attribute caught the attention of local hunters, leading to their curious name.

"Locally their meat is a delicacy, apparently they taste like chicken," explained Ms Smith.

Read on:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17372218