Restoration of the Relict Leopard Frog, Lithobates onca

Authors: Ross D. Haley, Jef Jaeger, Rebeca Rivera

Year: 2014 (xlvi)

Abstract

The relict leopard frog, Lithobates onca, was first described in 1875, and was believed to have gone extinct in about 1950 until its re-discovery 41 years later (1991) at three small springs within Lake Mead NRA. Subsequent searches found them in three additional springs inside the park and one outside. By 1994, however, the population outside the park was gone as well as the population at the site of the original discovery within the park. Numbers of frogs at the remaining sites were critically low, and the habitats were small. The Park initiated actions to save this species including initiating taxonomic research to prove they really were relict leopard frogs, studies of habitat needs, species distribution, population sizes, temperature tolerance, disease exposure, and husbandry techniques. The park also initiated a headstarting program and a multi-agency planning effort to develop a Conservation Agreement and Strategy (CAS) to save this species. A petition to list the species as endangered was filed on May 8, 2002, but this petition was denied due to the existing CAS and the active program to restore the species outlined in that agreement. To date over 4400 juvenile frogs and approximately 8800 tadpoles have been reared from eggs in our headstarting program and these have been transplanted to fourteen additional springs with varying degrees of success. A status report on this program and the status of the species will be presented.

Resumen

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