Nearly two decades after the last known Cascades frog (Rana cascadae) vanished from Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern California, 117 Cascades frogs have been reintroduced to the Park, a joint effort between the Jonah Piovia-Scott lab at Washington State University, the National Park Service, private landowners, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the US Forest Service. Previous die-offs are thought to have been caused by chytridiomycosis (Bd). The reintroduced frogs come from a population that has been resistant to the disease although whether through genetic immunity or features of their habitat remains unknown. To further boost the frogs' chances of survival, they received a weeklong antifungal treatment consisting of daily 5-minute itraconazole baths designed to knock back any Bd already present and give frogs the best chance of survival and growth following release. Frogs were initially collected from the source population, treated with antifungals and then split into three groups. One was released back into the source population where individuals would serve as a control. The remaining two groups were taken into two carefully selected sites, a lake and a meadow habitat near the location from which the last frogs in Lassen Volcanic National Park had occurred. Sites were chosen for their lack of fish, abundance of prey, depth for successful overwintering and emergent vegetation. Biologists will closely monitor these reintroduced populations to determine whether the translocation is a long-term success. Read more in this High Country News article.

read more news