DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE (Rochester, New York) 28 August 06 Local zookeeper wings to Panama to help save frog species (Misty Edgecomb)
John Adamski spent his summer vacation walking through the thick underbrush along Panamanian streams and snatching dozens of tiny gem-colored frogs from the air as they leapt away from his footfalls. He put in hours of hard labor installing fish tanks in the tropical heat, spent his nights in a hotel suite bathing hundreds of frogs in an antifungal solution — and he can't wait to go back.
Adamski, a reptile and amphibian expert at Seneca Park Zoo, recently returned from western Panama where he joined an international effort to save the tiny Panamanian golden frog and its colorful brethren. Hundreds of different types of tree frogs thrive in Panama's forests, but scientists predict that these tiny blue and green and orange frogs could soon disappear from the face of the earth.
An infection known as the chytrid fungus is sweeping through Central America, decimating frog populations that are already struggling against development and pollution. Some estimate that as many as a third of all known amphibian species are at risk of extinction. The chytrid fungus attacks an amphibian's skin, impeding the frog's ability to breathe. Anti-fungal baths can save individual animals in captivity, but there's no treatment for frogs in the wild.
"The situation is really grim," Adamski said.
Among the rarest is the Panamanian golden frog, a brilliant yellow spotted tree frog that plays a key role in Panamanian legend, as a harbinger of good luck.
"They're the flagship species of Panama. They're like the bald eagle here in the United States," Adamski said.
Within the next decade, the frog could be gone.
So, zoos across the hemisphere have joined together in Project Golden Frog, a joint effort to preserve Panama's biodiversity by building the El Valle Conservation Center, a sort of amphibian ark, where 150 rare species can live in quarantine until scientists find a remedy for the chytrid fungus. Until the state-of-the-art facility is completed, more than 300 animals are being housed at a hotel.
Eventually, they hope that member zoos, including Rochester's Seneca Park Zoo, will all host Panamanian golden frog exhibits to raise awareness about the chytrid fungus, which may very likely threaten native New York species in the future, Adamski said.
'There's no justification any more for (zoos to say): 'Just come look at the animals.' We have to be part of the conservation effort," said zoo director Larry Sorel.
Local zookeeper wings to Panama to help save frog species