There seem to be a lot of dying-frog stories in the news these days. From Yellow-Legged Frog Faces Extinction:
There are about 650 populations left in Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, but most lakes have only one to five frogs — not enough to guarantee survival — and 85 percent are infected with the lethal fungus.The frogs were once so thick that tadpoles frothed in shallow waters, and it was hard not to step on a frog on shore.
Their decline began with the artificial stocking of trout in Sierra lakes — first carried in buckets by mule and then dropped by plane — for sport fishing. The voracious predator pushed the frogs into isolated lakes.
The remaining frogs can’t withstand the fungus and can’t travel far enough in trout-infested streams to repopulate depleted habitat.
The frog population has dropped by 10 percent a year for five years, Rachowicz said at a gathering last month of 24 experts trying to save the frog.
The chytrid fungus, linked to the extinction of amphibians from Australia to Costa Rica, grows on frog skin, making it hard to use their pores and regulate water intake. The frogs die of thirst in the water, Rachowicz said.