Alarming Amphibian Decline Prompts Health Screening Protocol

An African bullfrog was the center of attention at the San Diego Zoo’s Reptile House recently. The three-year-old frog was tested for chytrid fungus using methods recommended by 25 of the world’s leading amphibian veterinarians, disease researchers and animal care experts. The scientists were brought together for a three-day workshop hosted at the Zoo to create a comprehensive manual for how to control diseases in amphibians. Amphibians consist of frogs, salamanders and the little-known caecilians.

“It was recently discovered that a fungal disease is affecting amphibians, and that disease was co-discovered by scientific staff at the San Diego Zoo,” said Joseph Mendelson, curator of herpetology at Zoo Atlanta. “Chytrid fungus is doing things that diseases don’t normally do; namely, it’s driving species directly to extinction. That doesn’t happen in a normal, healthy world.”

The San Diego Zoo and Zoo Atlanta invited amphibian specialists from the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom, to work toward a consensus on the best practices to prevent and control amphibian diseases. The Institute of Museum and Library Services, the largest governmental cultural agency in the United States, provided the funds for the three-day workshop.

“We don’t look at it as just some great frogs that need help; we see it as a living collection and collections are part of our mandate,” said Anne-Imelda Radice, director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. “We are a grant-making agency, and today I had the opportunity to see some of the fruits of the investment of the grants.”

The chytrid fungus has been deadly to frogs in the wild as well as those in zoos. While the San Diego Zoo has found no chytrid fungus among its current collection, it is testing every amphibian to ensure the population remains healthy.

“Right now, frogs are going extinct so rapidly we need to bring them into zoos to care for them,” said Allan Pessier, scientist for San Diego Zoo Conservation Research. “Unless we are able to control this disease in captivity we won’t have healthy colonies of frogs in the zoos to eventually release back into the wild.”