Tadpoles that were hatched and raised at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Centre for Conservation Research in Escondido have been released into the wild in an effort to help increase the numbers of endangered mountain yellow-legged frogs.
Staff and volunteers from the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research were able to place 200 of the young amphibians and 27 frogs back in into Fuller Mill Creek in San Bernardino County. They were taken there in special buckets that had the water in them kept at a temperature that would be best for the tadpoles. These were then taken in a climate controlled vehicle to the site where they were set free. A flyer printing company can produce informational materials that let the public know how to identify them and also what they can do to help ensure their long term survival as a species.
The number of these frogs has dropped drastically and they are at risk of extinction. They are believed to have become endangered due to human activities that affect the bodies of water in which they live, as well as predation buy larger creatures such as trout and bullfrogs, forest fires, and pesticides. A fungus has also killed many of them off, so the ones that were recently released have been inoculated to help provide them with protection against fungal diseases.
