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a curriculum for teaching children about amphibians and their global population declines.
Reptile Discovery Center Activity Guide
Reptile Discovery Center Programs
Panamian Golden Frogs Now On Exhibit
March 17, 2006
Panamanian golden frogs are now on exhibit at the Zoo's Reptile Discovery Center. These critically endangered amphibians are almost extinct in the wild. The Zoo is intimately involved with their conservation through a captive-breeding program. The frogs on exhibit were bred at the Zoo last year.
Panamanian golden frogs are under pressure from loss of habitat, over collection, and,
most of all, the chytrid fungus, which causes a disease first described by a team of scientists at the National Zoo
in 1999.
Worldwide, amphibians are experiencing alarming population declines and some species have quickly gone extinct.
Read more about frog declines.
To learn more about Panamanian golden frogs and what is being done to save them, visit:
http://www.amphibianrescue.org
June 22, 2005
Panamanian golden frogs (Atelopus zeteki) are disappearing in the wild, but a captive breeding program at the National Zoo may return frogs to Panama's rainforests.
Four pairs of golden frogs on loan from the Baltimore Zoo each laid a clutch of eggs this winter.
The first clutch has gone through metamorphosis; 13 little frogs are now in a small terrarium eating very small food (springtails).
The other groups are getting close to becoming frogs but it will probably take the rest of the summer for all to metamorphose as they develop at different rates and do not all leave the water at the same time.
It is hoped than when the roof repairs are completed at the Reptile Discovery Center some of the frogs will be put on public display, but for now, they remain in the nursery.
The Panamanian golden frog is under pressure from habitat destruction, illegal poaching (collection), and the Chytrid fungus. The Chytrid fungus is probably the leading cause of amphibian declines in the world. It has affected amphibians in Australia, Africa, Central and North America.
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