THE DOMINICA FROG FALLS TO EXTINCTION.
The Leptodactylus fallax, commonly known as the mountain chicken or giant ditch frog, is a critically endangered species of frog that is native to the Caribbean islands of Dominica and Montserrat. The mountain chicken (Leptodactylus fallax) is not a chicken. It is a frog. Officially named the Giant Ditch Frog and locally known as a mountain chicken possibly because of its large drumstick like legs which were once eaten for food.
One of the largest frogs in the world
The mountain chicken is one of the largest frogs in the world and can weigh over 40 times as much as a European common frog, reaching up to 1kg in size. They eat a variety of animals, including insects, snakes, small mammals, and even other frogs. These frogs currently occur in Dominica and Montserrat but were once far more widespread.
An epidemic of the fungal disease amphibian chytridiomycosis almost wiped-out mountain chickens forever. Since one of the pathogens that causes the disease arrived in Dominica in 2002 and in Montserrat in 2009, the mountain chicken population declined by over 90%. There are now fewer than 100 wild individuals left in Dominica and the species is likely to be extinct in the wild in Montserrat.
We are a part of the collaborative mountain chicken recovery programme, which is leading cutting-edge mountain chicken conservation. Together we are researching possible routes to help the species recover, such as heated water baths for a population managed in semi-wild conditions on Montserrat, and genomic investigations of disease resistance in Dominica. We also hold a population in biosecure facilities at London Zoo, which will act as a source for future population recovery in the wild. Returning an animal which is as much a key part of the eco-system as they are loved by local people.
Restoring mountain chickens!
One of the largest frogs in the world
The mountain chicken is one of the largest frogs in the world and can weigh over 40 times as much as a European common frog, reaching up to 1kg in size. They eat a variety of animals, including insects, snakes, small mammals, and even other frogs. These frogs currently occur in Dominica and Montserrat but were once far more widespread.
An epidemic of the fungal disease amphibian chytridiomycosis almost wiped-out mountain chickens forever. Since one of the pathogens that causes the disease arrived in Dominica in 2002 and in Montserrat in 2009, the mountain chicken population declined by over 90%. There are now fewer than 100 wild individuals left in Dominica and the species is likely to be extinct in the wild in Montserrat.
We are a part of the collaborative mountain chicken recovery programme, which is leading cutting-edge mountain chicken conservation. Together we are researching possible routes to help the species recover, such as heated water baths for a population managed in semi-wild conditions on Montserrat, and genomic investigations of disease resistance in Dominica. We also hold a population in biosecure facilities at London Zoo, which will act as a source for future population recovery in the wild. Returning an animal which is as much a key part of the eco-system as they are loved by local people.
Restoring mountain chickens!
Categorized as Extinct in the Wild (EW): A taxon is presumed Extinct in the Wild when exhaustive surveys in known and/or expected habitat, at appropriate times (diurnal, seasonal, annual), throughout its historic range have failed to record an individual.
Currently, the Red List Index (RLI) is available for five taxonomic groups only (those in which all species have been assessed at least twice): birds, mammals, amphibians, cycads and warm-water reef-forming corals (see Figure 1). It has also been aggregated into a single index for those five groups (see Butchart et al. 2010 for methodology). The RLI clearly demonstrates that the status of these major groups is still declining.
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