Year of the Frog at UENO ZOO

For the full size image, click on the painting.

(Februaly 8, 2008)

SPECIAL REPORT

2008 Year of the Frog

The environment has been dramatically difficult to live for amphibian. As the matter of fact, 165 of amphibian species are believed to be extinct, and 50% of 6000 described amphibian species are on the verge of extinction. (1)

Amphibian Ark is leading zoos, aquariums and botanical gardens to initiate the campaign to protect amphibian and announced “2008 – The Year of Frog”.
The main goal of the campaign is to generate public awareness and understanding of the amphibian extinction crisis which represents the greatest species conservation challenge in the history of humanity. (2)

Four institutions (Ueno Zoo, Tama Zoo, Inokashira Zoo and Kasai Rinkai Aquarium) in Tokyo have taken part in the campaign.

Today, Jack the Lizard visited Ueno Zoo to find out what the zoo has started to protect amphibians.

What is the serious threat?

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (hereafter Bd), a type of chytrid fungi, was found in 1999. Bd infects amphibians and causes the fatal disease, chytridiomycosis. Since Bd is discovered, the number of amphibian has been dramatically decreasing. For example, 8 Australian indigenous frogs have been already extinct.

Bd was found in Japan in December 2006 from a frog in captivity. It is critically important not to spread Bd to the wild. To prevent Bd from spreading, it is very important to keep your pet frogs clean and sterilize its’ tank. If your pdt prog was dead, the body must be burnt. Never bury a dead one in soil outside. It is essentially important to protect Japanese native frog species.

They are everywhere, aren’t they?

Ueno Zoo has about 50 different amphibian species now. Most of them are exotic frogs and newts from other countries. To participate The Year of Frog, the zoo focuses on the Japanese indigenous. Generally speaking, it was assumed that the frogs are commonly everywhere. Therefore rearing Japanese frogs in zoo is quite new project. First, the project team started collecting Tokyo Daruma Pond Frog (Rana Porosa) and Tokyo Salamander (Hynobius tokyoensis). The members went to the upper Tama River in Itsukaichi city in May. Collecting specimens was not easy. You cannot collect the eggs are connected to each other, not suitable for collection because their genes are similar. It is hard to catch dult frogs because they auickly jump to escape. So the numbers of the tadpoles were collected from different mass of eggs.

Let’s take care of the frogs. We need to know how.

Takahashi explains us about Tokyo Daruma Pond Frog

“We still don’t know exactly how much space is necessary for a pair of frogs. It’s not easy to give them a big space in the zoo facility. If it is too small, the frogs would hurt each other”, said Takahashi, Manager of amphibian pavilion. Saito, a zookeeper, said, “Tokyo Daruma Pond Frog, a kind of True Frog, has strong power to jump. Unfortunately they don’t recognize the glass of tank. When they panic, sometimes they collide with the glass and get hurt themselves.” He pointed out the difference of the way to take care of frogs compare to Axolotl and Kasumi Salamander (Hynobius nebulosus) which do not move a lot.

600,000 crickets are in the cases here. They are the food of amphibians and reptiles.

In captivity, the temperature and humidity is adjusted to make the frogs hibernated. Their hibernation affects their breeding in the next spring. “It is a interesting experience as a zookeeper to change their environment to start and end their hibernation”, said Saito.

We may need 6 years at least to understand the frogs’ behaviour in captivity”, said Takahashi. He thinks the breeding experience will help to keep other species such as Kajika Frog (Buergeria Buergeri) and Tago Frog (Rana Tagoi) in the captivity.

After 2008, Ueno Zoo keeps researching about frogs to protect them from Bd.

Can you tell what they are thinking?

If all the amphibians disappear fro the planet, what would be possible to happen? This is not an easy question to answer. Many of you may not mind the extinction of slimy species. The official web site of Amphibian Ark states that Amphibians are indicators of environmental health, important components of ecosystems.

Saito feeds Japanese Giant Salamander. Keeper's Talk is very popular.

Takahashi wants many people to get interested in the world of amphibian.
“Do they look gross? That’s fine. It’s welcomed that at least people pay attention to their existence and have curiosity about them.”

Tahakashi has loved frogs and rare some by himself when he was a child.
“Frog does not have any facial expression like mammal. I cannot tell what they think, but it is really fun to study about their behaviour. They are such little creatures, but have a complex world where they catch the pray to survive and lay little eggs for the future.”

Takahashi sometimes hold lectures to introduce the ecology of amphibians at public high schools.

Beautiful Amphibian

While amphibian glows, it metamorphoses from breathing with gill to pulmonary respiration. Frog loses its tail while four legs grow.

Axolotl is cannibalistic habit. Even in the captivity, an axolotl may get bit by its fellow and looses a leg. Believe or not, a new leg grow and the axolotl will regain the perfect body.

Aince amphibian is our alive textbook to understand the biological evolution, so they are precious species. They’ve existed since the dinosaur’s era. People also love frogs because of their vivid colour.

While towns are getting developed, habitats of amphibian are disappearing.

There are so many things that we don’t know yet. That’s the wonder world of amphibian that we do not want to loose.