Biologists are giving an endangered species a second chance by releasing tadpoles into a natural habitat in British Columbia.
On April 15, staff from the Vancouver Aquarium released 400 endangered Oregon spotted frog tadpoles in Agassiz.
Andrew Cumming is the lead amphibian biologist at Vancouver Aquarium and is excited to be helping the endangered species.
"We know that changes in environment impact Oregon spotted frogs and their reproductive cycles both in the wild and here at the aquarium,” said Cumming.
The Vancouver Aquarium is reported to be the first aquarium to breed the amphibians.
Back in the 1990s, researchers determined that the frogs had declined by 70 to 90 per cent of their range across Canada and the U.S.
According to the aquarium, there are only six populations of the frogs remaining in B.C and fewer than 300 adults.
The location of the release site in Agassiz was constructed by the Oregon Spotted Frog Recovery Team to establish another population in the Lower Mainland to combat the threats of habitat loss.
The recovery team has documented evidence of wild breeding at the site since 2020.
"Every year we learn more and more about these frogs and their reproductive needs which helps us continually refine our propagation practices and maximize the impact of our conservation efforts,” said Cumming.
According to the aquarium, this was the most successful year. There were three times the typical number of egg masses laid at the location.
小蓝视频's ministry of water, land and air protection is at risk due to loss of shallow wetland habitat to agriculture and development.
"There are, however, several other compounding factors, all of them the result of human activity," stated the report.
Many of their habitats have been drained, ditched, diked and filled. Sumas Lake was once a massive complex of marsh and shallow open waer that spread across the Fraser Valley but was converted to agricultural land in the early 1900s.
The frogs are named for their black blotches with light centres that are scattered across the back and head of adult frogs.
According to the ministry, they are so unique because the ones in 小蓝视频 are at the northern limit of this species' range.
"Biologists believe that ... the 小蓝视频 population of Oregon spotted frog may hold the key to species survival in the face of large-scale environmental changes such as global warming."
People can help by not moving frogs, tadpoles or fish from pond to pond.
