Bullfrog Ballet

Tags:: Vancouver Aquarium Frogs Bullfrog Forever?

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Kinga70
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Updated: 11-Mar-08
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Added: 28-Feb-08

Frogs Forever? ... only if we leap in to save them. There's a global crisis facing amphibians -- frogs, toads and salamanders -- they're vanishing before our very eyes.

Bullfrog Ballet

Bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) are native to the eastern North America, from Canada as far south as Florida, but they're invading British Columbia, where the Vancouver Aquarium is located. They were introduced here in the early 1900s by people wanting to farm them for their legs.

As you can see, they'll eat just about anything that will fit into their mouth. They can easily tip the delicate balance of nature in places where they are not naturally found.

Ironically this widely introduced species is disappearing in Ontario, Canada -- part of its natural range.

See these frogs in person at the Vancouver Aquarium

It's a global crisis

We could lose up to one-half of the world's 6,000 known amphibian species in our lifetime, resulting in the single largest mass extinction since the disappearance of the dinosaurs.

We're losing them to habitat destruction, pollution that includes household chemicals and pesticides, climate change, and over-harvesting for food, but the most deadly cause is a disease called the chytrid fungus.

It's a crisis that has sparked the Vancouver Aquarium to take action.

"Frogs Forever?" a new exhibit at the Aquarium trains the spotlight on the plight of the world's frogs, with tips on how we can help save them.

It's part of the global initiative to save frogs launched by Amphibian Ark (a coalition of research and conservation groups that include zoo and aquariums), which has declared 2008 The Year of the Frog.