OTHELLO, WA – Hundreds of Northern Leopard Frogs will leap back into the wild at the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge in Grant County this month.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife collected hundreds of frog eggs earlier in spring. After months of growing at the Oregon zoo and Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, the frogs are almost ready for release!
The Northern Leopard Frogs were rapidly disappearing in the Pacific Northwest and parts of Western Canada, so much so that back in 1999 the species had been listed as endangered in Washington.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife says the likely cause of the frog’s decline was because it started to lose its habitat, diseases and climate change.
By raising eggs through the tadpole stage to froglets at the Oregon zoo and Northwest Trek wildlife park, researchers are hoping to bypass the threats the frogs face through their growth stages and establish a new population of frogs in the region.
Researchers at Washington State University will also fit a couple of dozen of the frogs with small radio transmitters to help track the frog’s movement and monitor it’s survival.
One of the researchers of the project Jennifer Osburn Eliot said raising the frogs and releasing them when they are adults have a much better chance of surviving in the wild than an egg or tadpole.
“We’re at a critical point for this species,” said Jennifer Osburn Eliot, who oversees the Oregon Zoo’s frog-rearing efforts. “We’re doing everything we can to help northern leopard frogs thrive again in the Pacific Northwest — and a big, healthy froglet has a much better chance of surviving in the wild than an egg or a tadpole.”
The Department of Fish and Wildlife plans on releasing its newly bred frogs later this month.
