Conservation News

Mountain chicken frogs are being flown from the Caribbean to the UK in order to protect them from fungal disease. (News source.)

Malaysian wildlife officers seized 210 poached monitor lizards. (News source.)

Bait Shops Spread Infected Salamanders

"Salamanders in bait shops in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico are infected with ranaviruses, and those in Arizona, with a chytrid fungus called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd)." (Eurekalert)

Immunity for Frogs?

"Recent preliminary evidence, described in the April issue of BioScience, suggests also that individual amphibians can sometimes develop resistance to chytridiomycosis, which is caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd)." (Eurekalert.)

Amphibian Decline

NatGeo has an article on amphibian loss.

Amphibian Decline Controversy

An evaluation of the models for amphibian decline suggests that the current models are not giving the full picture. (Eurekalert.)

Chemicals Aid Parasites

A new paper supports the idea that chemical pollution helps increase parasitic infections in amphibian populations. (News source.)

Herp Conservation

Mexico City axolotyls are in danger of disappearing. (News source.)

The Western Australia government is giving $1.2 million to a toad busting group to fight cane toads. (News source.)

Amphibians are dying off at Yellowstone. (News source.)

Boreal Toad Anomaly

The boreal toads in Colorado are dying off from the chytrid fungus, but it doesn't seem to be killing the populations in Wyoming or Montana (despite being present). Researchers are investigating the apparent immunity... (News source.)

Frog Decline & the Chytrid Fungus

There are two online articles regarding the recent study published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, on the chytrid fungus spreading among frog populations (and wiping them out) in the western US. First, on Mongabay, also on LiveScience.

Estrogen: Another Amphibian Danger

Turns out that estrogen in the water (which isn't processed to treat/remove that chemical) from birth-control pill use may be responsible for some amphibian decline, as male frogs are turned into females. Other drugs may also be causing problems. (News source.)

Frogs and Rainforest Clearings

Clearings created for powerlines in the rainforest may be helping to curb the spread of an amphibian fungal disease. (News source.)

Bacteria Shows Potential for Amphibian Protection

Of several reasons cited for amphibian species decline around the world, the chytridiomycosis fungus is particularly devastating. A bacteria (Pedobacter cryoconitis) found on red-backed salamanders, however, appears to ward off the fungus. Researchers at James Madison University have isolated the bacteria and are conducting experiments that show some early success. Much has yet to be done, but there is potential for a "vaccine" in the future. (News source.)