Did you know? 

• Nearly 1/3 of the ~6,500 amphibian species are threatened and almost ½ experiencing population declines.
• This figure represents more threatened amphibians than reptiles, birds, fishes, or mammals, making them the most threatened class of vertebrates on the planet.
• In the past few decades, 159 species are thought to have gone extinct, and all experts involved know that this is an underestimate.

Why should we care?

Nearly everyone can relate to amphibians, especially frogs. As kids, how many of us chased frogs in the backyard or collect tadpoles to raise? Of course, their smooth, sometimes slippery skin is less attractive to some, yet they still make their impression. Amphibians have been around for over 350 million years, surviving several mass extinction events yet continuing to be a major part of our global ecosystem.  

The frogs, toads, salamanders and other amphibians consume millions of invertebrates and also become prey for creatures higher in the food chain. What happens when such a critical piece is removed? Some of the effects are just being documented in places such as Panama where the devastating amphibian chytrid fungus has wiped out many species. (Whiles et. al., 2006).  

Amphibians have thin, permeable skin through which they drink and breathe. This same skin also makes them particularly sensitive to toxins in the environment and for this reason, they are often considered our environmental barometers, sensing even very low levels of pollutants or temperature change, which can have drastic effects.  

The skin of amphibians has proven to be an interesting and yet unexplored source of chemicals, many with great potential in the field of human medicine. From antibiotics and analgesics to compounds that block the transmission of HIV, the thin skin of amphibians has already produced many exciting biomedically active products. However, when amphibians disappear, they take their chemicals with them! Many species have already gone extinct before we have a chance to discover what their biomedical contribution could be. It is clear that there are many reasons to keep amphibians on the planet. 

What is being done: Conservation Action

In response to the IUCN Global Amphibian Assessment, an Amphibian Conservation Summit was held in 2005 to come up with a solution. This meeting brought together scientists, policy makers, conservationists and many others who worked to produce the Amphibian Conservation Action Plan (ACAP), a $400 million bail out for amphibians. (Gascon et al. 2007) The plan covers aspects of research, conservation and assessment directed at saving amphibians through collaborative worldwide efforts. Implementation of the ACAP has been challenging especially given the fact that funding for such an initiative is relatively scarce and global coordination a monumental task.  



The Amphibian Ark

The Amphibian Ark (AArk) is an organization formed by the IUCN/ SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, (CBSG), World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) and the IUCN/SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (ASG). (www.AmphibianArk.org). AArk has been tasked with implementing the ex situ (captive breeding) aspects of the ACAP (Zippel et al. 2006). Amphibian Ark’s vision is to have amphibians safe in nature and its mission is facilitating partnerships that ensure the global survival of amphibians, focusing on those that cannot currently be safeguarded in nature. Amphibian Ark does not maintain assurance colonies of endangered frogs itself but does so through its members, which include zoological institutions, universities, botanical gardens, aquariums, nature centers and even private citizens. Everyone with a vested interest in amphibians is part of the Amphibian Ark!  

AArk emphasizes these captive programs within the range countries of the species and attempts to link them to activities that promote the protection and restoration of species in natural habitats. When resources of staff, funds or expertise stand in the way of progress within range country, AArk attempts to find ways to fill in the gaps. AArk assists with species evaluation and selection in range countries or regions through workshops using a prioritization tool developed collaboratively by and as a consensus from AArk partners around the world. Once the range country has a list of ex situ priorities, it moves to the next step of identifying local participants, partners (when needed), and other resources needed to carry out ex situ activities. AArk helps to provide partners, husbandry training, and other resources to get things moving.

How you can help

Amphibians are being negatively impacted by the commercial trade, be it for pets, research, food, or other purposes. We can document declining populations and disease transmission caused by this trade. Instead of buying wild-collected specimens that might originate from small populations (e.g., Laotian and Iranian newts, the latest thumbnail dendrobatid), consider other species and sources. To minimize your impact, purchase only captive-bred animals from reliable and ethical sources. Look closely at the current palette of captive-bred species available and try to appreciate their inherent beauty and appeal rather than maintaining a never-ending search for the latest import. Where appropriate, ask for documentation for imported specimens and avoid specimens and vendors lacking such information.  

We wish that we could invite you to join us by breeding threatened species in your home, but that is not practical for several reasons. The main reason is the risk of introducing new diseases into animals destined for release back into the wild. The equipment and practices required to absolutely minimize the chance of accidents are expensive and difficult. Zoos and other organizations have the resources to achieve this level of biosecurity, whereas most hobbyists do not.   

However, that does not mean that you cannot do important things with your collection to help our cause! First, you can get involved in collaborations that promote sustainable breeding and management, like the Amphibian Steward Network set up by the TreeWalkers organization, which “harnesses the passion, skills, and resources of private amphibian enthusiasts” to promote activities leading to sustainable captive population management, reducing collecting pressure on wild populations, and supporting in situ conservation action for the species involved. Second, you can use your skills and motivation to make a difference in advancing our husbandry knowledge. Did you know that the zoo community does not even know how to breed our common backyard toads without using artificial hormone injections? Maybe you can show us how it is done, and then these same techniques could be used with numerous threatened species.

Please note though: just because you animals aren’t destined for release does not mean that they pose no risk to the wild. We must all work together to keep our animals and their potential pathogens contained. After all, it is the commercial trade that spread chytrid around the world and got us into this mess in the first place. So, for starters, do not ever release your pets. This also applies to native ones you might have collected locally, as they might have caught exotic parasites from your other pets. Also, be sure to properly disinfect and dispose of used substrates, water, etc. (anything coming from an enclosure housing amphibians) rather than dumping them outside. Try to think of the path between the indoors and the outdoors as a one way street. New guidelines for quarantine and hygiene are being developed to help ALL herpetoculturists reduce and eliminate the risk of disease spread. Keep an eye on www.amphibianark.org for more details.

Beyond your collections, try to be a good environmental steward. As our environmental indicators, amphibians are telling us that we are doing damage to the health of the planet. Clearly, promoting better environmental stewardship will benefit our thin-skinned friends but also our own kind. Make an effort to tread more lightly on the planet by curbing your big carbon vices: big cars, big families, hot thermostats, and hamburgers – you know the right thing to do. Get together with friends and collect the garbage from your local wetland. Make a new wetland in your backyard, even a small pond will help. Treewalker's Operation Frog Pond provides great advice. If you build it, they will come. If you are surrounded by development and they don’t come, rescue eggs and tads from local swimming pools and use them to seed new populations. And try to manage your yard without using pesticides, fertilizers and weed killers, all of which are poisonous to amphibians.  

Help raise awareness. Start a letter-writing campaign to politicians, from local to federal, to raise their awareness and ask them to encourage and finance conservation activities for amphibians. If you are a student (or you have kids in school), start a letter-writing campaign in yours and other schools encouraging them to do the same. And speaking of students, go visit them and share your passion. What biology class would not welcome a visit from a herpetologist? Take the time to interact with a local class, and be sure to tell them about our amphibian-related curricular materials for school kids: http://www.helpafrog.com/toolkit.htm

Amphibians have great public appeal! Raise money to support conservation projects where many times even a few hundred dollars can go a long way. Pick a project to support and go for it! Show us your grassroots: organize a bake sale, can drive, or carwash, sell frog tee shirts or stuffed animals, or organize recycling drives for cell phones and inkjet and toner cartridges, which can be sold to recyclers for money. Start a herp group, ban together and pool your resources. As little as $50,000 can save a species from extinction, but just a few dollars a day can buy vital supplies and support project assistants in range countries.

Amphibians are more than cultural icons or something we simply grew up with as kids. They represent an important component of the global ecosystem, they act as indicators of condition of the environment, and they contribute to human health. They survived on this planet for millions of years yet now, largely as a result of our own, reckless activities, they find themselves threatened with extinction. Addressing this crisis represents the greatest species conservation challenge in the history of humanity and the global conservation community has formulated a response in the ACAP (see www.amphibians.org). An integral part of that response is the Amphibian Ark, in which select species that would otherwise go extinct will be maintained in captivity until they can be secured in the wild. Boarding the Ark does not require that you work at a zoo, hold a PhD or bring in a six-figure income. Anyone can be a part! Join us in helping to save amphibians, a challenge that will ultimately be quite important to all! 

References

Gascon, C., Collins, J.P., Moore, R.D., Church, D.R., McKay, J.E., and Mendelson III, J.R. (eds.) 2007 Amphibian Conservation Action Plan. IUCN/SSC Amphibian Specialist Group. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. 64 pp.  

IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>.

Downloaded on 03 January 2009.  

Whiles, M.R., Lips, K.R., Pringle, C.M., Kilham, S.S., Bixby, R.J., Brenes, R., Connelly, S., Colon-Gaud, J.C., Hunte-Brown, M., Huryn, A.D., Montgomery, C., Peterson, S. 2006. The effects of amphibian population declines on the structure and function of Neo-tropical stream ecosystems. Fron. Ecol. Environ. 4:27-34.  

Zippel, K.C. and J.R. Mendelson III. 2008. The Amphibian Extinction Crisis: A Call to Action. Herpetol. Rev. 33:23-29.