Endangered Mountain Yellow-legged Frogs Released into Wild

On May 29, 2014 ARMI biologists Adam Backlin and Elizabeth Gallegos, alongside partners Frank Santana from the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research and Ian Recchio and Marlowe Robertson-Billet from the LA Zoo and Botanical Gardens, will be releasing 74 captive bred juvenile endangered mountain yellow-legged frogs [Rana muscosa] into the wild in the San Jacinto Mountains, near Idyllwild, CA. Mountain yellow-legged frogs are endangered in southern California and live in perennial streams in portions of the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, and San Jacinto Mountains. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the mountain yellow-legged frog in southern California as endangered in 2002. Reduced to fewer than 200 individuals by 2003, efforts to boost the species’ population have included captive breeding, reintroducing captive offspring to historic habitat, habitat restoration and conducting scientific research into the causes of the species’ decline. This is a joint project conducted by U.S.G.S., U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Forest Service, and zoo partners. Contact: Benjamin Landis for more information.