Giant Caribbean Mountain Chicken Frog On The Brink Of Extinction

Urgent action is needed to save one of the world’s largest frogs from one of the world’s most devastating wildlife diseases as the latest survey reveals just 21 individuals remain in the wild

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A global collaboration of conservation scientists is sounding the alarm to initiate urgent action to save one of the world’s largest frogs, which hovers on the brink of extinction. A recent survey revealed that only 21 individual mountain chicken frogs, Leptodactylus fallax, remain alive in one tiny refuge on the Caribbean Island of Dominica.

The mountain chicken frog is the largest native frog in the Caribbean. Adults weigh almost one kilogram — as much as a bag of sugar. Its large ‘drumstick’-like legs — which inspired its weird name — provide enough power so these frogs can leap over a standing human. Its variable mottled reddish brown and cream coloring provides camouflage so it can disappear against the background of leaf litter on the forest floor.

The Critically Endangered frog was endemic to seven Caribbean islands, including Montserrat and Dominica, but the combined effects of habitat destruction, introduced predators and human over-exploitation has dramatically reduced its numbers — a situation made worse by the introduction of the deadly fungal disease, Chytridiomycosis. These multiple dangers continue to threaten the future of this charismatic and culturally significant frog.

“The charismatic male calls of the mountain chicken frog once reverberated around the rainforests of Dominica at night — we want to bring this sound back to our island, for our people,” said wildlife ecologist and conservationist Jeanelle Brisbane, an Assistant Forest Officer with the Forestry, Wildlife and Parks Division of Dominica, founder of WildDominique, a conservation non-governmental organization, and spokesperson for the Mountain Chicken Recovery Programme.

“It’s devastating that future generations may never hear this iconic soundscape which defines our island.”

Founded in 2002, the MCRP is a global collaboration between scientists, conservationists and the governments of Montserrat and Dominica. This group is developing a variety of science-based innovative management techniques to prevent this frog’s extinction.

The most recent survey enlisted the efforts of 28 conservation biologists from 11 organizations who, togther, invested 960 hours over 26 nights searching for this frog.

Throught its evolutionary history, the giant mountain chicken frog has survived hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and later, human hunting, but it is the introduction of a deadly microscopic fungus that may finally seal its fate. Amphibian chytridiomycosis arrived in Dominica in 2002 and quickly led to this frog’s population to plummet by over 99% in just a few short years. A number of surveys since then found no wild mountain chickens on Dominica between 2006 and 2010.

Despite attempts to prevent the spread of the fungus, it invaded Montserrat’s remaining population of frogs in 2009, eventually resulting in the species’ extirpation from that entire island. Worldwide, the chytrid fungus has led to mass mortalities of around 500 frog species and caused over 90 extinctions in just 50 years on six continents.

Chytridiomycosis is caused by two species of microscopic fungi, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and B. salamandrivorans, which are often referred to as “chytrid”. Chytrid infection causes thickening of the outer skin layers, which many amphibians rely upon for gas, salt and water absorption. This thickening inhibits those vital functions, eventually leading to the animal’s death from a heart attack.

“We’re working to understand how to recover mountain chicken frog populations — but our recent work shows that the chytrid fungus is not the only threat we must tackle to avoid these frogs being wiped out forever, and we need urgent support to save the species,” said Andrés Valenzuela-Sánchez, a Research Fellow in Wildlife Health at the Zoological Society of London.

Invasive species such as cats, dogs and rats, along with habitat destruction due to agriculture, quarrying and construction, and even climate breakdown, are all taking their toll and creating a multitude of challenges for protecting this species.

“Sadly, we’re finding the frogs closer and closer to busy roads as they search for water, due to our rivers being so dry due to the changing climate in Dominica,” Ms Brisbane said, noting that two of the total 23 frogs that were counted were found dead on the road.

The remaining survivors are now in ex-situ breeding programs. A population of 236 individuals currently survives in a number of European institutions.

“In two years, these vitally important apex predators could become Extinct in the Wild, meaning they will cease to exist anywhere except in human care,” said Andrew Cunningham, Deputy Director of the Institute of Zoology & Professor of Wildlife Epidemiology at the ZSL, as well as the leader of the international team that first identified chytridiomycosis as a global threat to amphibians.

“It’s been over 20 years since amphibian chytridiomycosis first arrived in the Caribbean, and in that time mountain chicken frog numbers have been decimated,” Professor Cunningham elaborated. “However, this year’s survey did give us one reason for optimism. Despite all the threats these frogs are facing, the team identified one particularly special frog. He was tagged as a mature individual in a survey eight years ago, so we know that this frog is at least 11 years old — making him the oldest wild mountain chicken frog known to be in existence.”

“If this individual can persist in the face of endless challenges, it gives us hope for the future of the species more widely – and we need those with the power to rewrite this story to invest in that future.”

“If these frogs have developed resistance to chytrid fungus this could also give us immense hope for the species,” Professor Cunningham concluded. “The next step will be to bring these resistant genes into the breeding programme population so that we can [build] a strong and genetically diverse population that can one day be returned to the wild in Montserrat and Dominica.”

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