2008 is the Year of the Frog

Beginning on Leap Day — February 29th — and lasting throughout the year, AZA zoos and aquariums across the country will celebrate Leap Day to promote amphibian conservation.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums is highlighting 2008 as the Year of the Frog to mark a major conservation effort to address the amphibian extinction crisis. The Year of the Frog is also meant to engage the public in amphibian conservation and to raise funds for AZA amphibian conservation efforts into the future. Read AZA Year of the Frog (in PDF) from the August 2007 issue of Connect Magazine for details.

Activities, banners, fact sheets and more for AZA Members

Check out the Year of the Frog educational activities and resources for use in your own institutions.

Why Year of the Frog?

Frogs are going extinct. So are toads, salamanders, newts, and the intriguingly unusual caecilians. In fact, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) estimates that at least one-third of known amphibian species are threatened with extinction. While the major culprit has historically been habitat loss and degradation, many of the declines and extinctions previously referred to as "enigmatic" are now being attributed to the rapidly dispersing infectious disease chytridiomycosis, which is caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Bd is causing population and species extinctions at an alarming rate. Can you imagine if we were about to lose one-third of the world's mammals?

AZA Amphibian News

Public Service Announcement Launched to Help Amphibians (AZA)
September 3, 2008

ING DIRECT and the Calgary Zoo "Save a Hopper"
July 22, 2008

Detroit Zoo helps toads, plovers make comebacks
July 2, 2008

Amphibian conservation and Year of the Frog featured in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Spring 2008 issue of the Endangered Species Bulletin
Spring 2008

[Read more Amphibian News]

The combined effect of habitat destruction, climate change, pollution, and Bd cannot be addressed solely in the wild. Captive assurance populations have become the only hope for many species faced with imminent extinction and are an important component of an integrated conservation effort. AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums, with their demonstrated expertise in endangered species breeding programs, have been called upon to meet this conservation challenge.

The IUCN has classified four amphibians in the U.S. to be critically endangered, the Mississippi gopher frog, the Chiricahua leopard frog, the mountain yellow-legged frog, and the Wyoming toad. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has listed thirty-seven amphibian species under the Endangered Species Act. AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums may be their only hope for survival.

World-wide Cooperation

AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums and the AZA Conservation Staff are working closely with our partners to develop and implement a global action plan for amphibian conservation:

Why Now?

AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums are committed to ensuring the survival of all amphibian species and are already an active force in amphibian conservation. Since 2000, we have spent more than $1.1 million on amphibian conservation and research projects in more than 20 countries around the world. Now, with Year of the Frog, we need to take our efforts to the next level, not only by increasing our conservation efforts, but also by engaging the public to learn about and support our critical work to prevent amphibian extinction.

AZA Research and Conservation

Twenty-five years ago, AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums began their collaboration to save the Puerto Rican crested toad (Peltophryne lemur). Once common across Puerto Rico, this species was driven to near extinction by human activities. In 1982, under the auspices of the first AZA amphibian Species Survival Plan® (SSP) program, AZA zoos and aquariums began to successfully breed and release the Puerto Rican crested toad into its native habitat.

AZA now manages the populations of seven amphibian species. In addition, AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums have been involved in more than 100 amphibian conservation projects worldwide. To learn more about AZA's ongoing commitment to amphibian conservation, read about the AZA Amphibian Conservation Program.