Poisonous Frogs in danger of extinction have begun to return to their natural habitat in Valle del Cauca, Colombia, thanks to a breeding program.
The process takes place in laboratories. So far, 21 critically endangered specimens have been able to return home after being rescued from illegal animal trafficking networks.
They are now part of a new reintroduction colony of a species that is endangered due to human actions.
Endangered Poisonous Frogs: the Reintegration Process
In 2018, specialists, organizations, and environmental authorities gathered to evaluate the conservation status of amphibian species in Colombia.
Poisonous frogs were recovered in Colombia. (Photo: Wikipedia).[/caption>
It is the Lehmann’s poison frog (Oophaga lehmanni), critically endangered according to the IUCN Red List due to illegal wildlife trafficking.
The conclusion of the specialists was that, if individuals were not reintroduced into their natural environment, it would be very difficult for the species to recover from the threat of extinction.
This led to an alliance and a strategy to work on the conservation of this amphibian species. However, the frogs were missing. There were no specimens in Colombian zoos or institutions. It was a coincidence that, two months later, a briefcase containing 216 frogs of various species, including some Oophaga lehmanni, appeared at El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá.
The joint decision was to send these specimens to the Cali Zoo for immediate care.
The frogs measure approximately 3.5 centimeters and have striking color bands on their skin, mostly red and black, but they can also vary between orange and yellow.
Thus began a collaborative effort between the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Valle del Cauca (CVC), the Cali Zoo Foundation, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the University of Valle, National Natural Parks of Colombia, the Zurich Zoo, and the communities of the Anchicayá River basin in the Valle del Cauca department, the only place in the world where this frog inhabits.
21 Frogs were Recovered
The common goal is to recover the natural populations of the species. However, the initiative not only aims to rescue the confiscated specimens but also to breed them in controlled conditions in a specialized laboratory, and then release and monitor them in their natural habitat.
In this way, in early October of this year, 21 individuals of the poison frog were released in a point of the Valle del Cauca Pacific region.
They join a total of 159 frogs that have returned to their ecosystem in the last five years, an effort considered by specialists as “innovative and unique.”
“There are other reintroduction projects for mammals or birds, but especially with a poisonous frog, there are few experiences, and I believe none have achieved the results we have obtained,” says Duván GarcÃa, a biologist at the Environmental Management Directorate of the CVC.
“The success of this program is precisely because, for a long time, many experts and institutions began to ally and look at what steps to follow,” he adds.
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