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Audio: Racing to save the world’s amazing frogs with Jonathan Kolby

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  • On this episode, we discuss the global outbreak of the chytrid fungus, which might have already driven as many as 200 species of frogs to extinction.
  • Our guest is biologist and National Geographic explorer Jonathan Kolby, who founded the Honduras Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Center, or HARCC for short, to study and rescue frogs affected by the chytrid fungus. Tree frogs in Cusuco National Park in Honduras, some of which are found nowhere else on Earth, are being decimated by the aquatic fungal pathogen.
  • In this Field Notes segment, Kolby plays for us some recordings of the frog species he’s working to save from the deadly fungal infection in Honduras and says that there might be hope that frogs and other amphibians affected by chytrid can successfully cope with the disease.

On this episode, we discuss the global outbreak of the chytrid fungus, which might have already driven as many as 200 species of frogs to extinction, but there have been some hopeful recent developments.

Listen here:

 

Our guest is biologist and National Geographic Explorer Dr. Jonathan Kolby, who founded the Honduras Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Center, or HARCC for short, to study and rescue frogs affected by the chytrid fungus. Tree frogs in Cusuco National Park in Honduras, some of which are found nowhere else on Earth, are being decimated by the aquatic fungal pathogen.

The chytrid outbreak is contributing to the sixth global mass extinction event currently underway. Kolby explains that the fungus had already spread worldwide before scientists even discovered its existence, and has already caused hundreds of amphibian species worldwide to become endangered or even extinct.

In this Field Notes segment, Kolby plays for us some recordings of the frog species he’s working to save from the deadly fungal infection in Honduras and says that there might be hope that frogs and other amphibians affected by chytrid can successfully cope with the disease.

Read more about Kolby and HARCC’s work at frogrescue.com, or follow Kolby on Twitter or Instagram.

You can also check out this recent feature in bioGraphic and accompanying video, which Kolby mentions in the podcast:

Here’s this episode’s top news:

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The Cusuco Spike-thumb Frog (Plectrohyla dasypus) is critically endangered and found only in the cloud forest of Cusuco National Park in Honduras. It is one of three species targeted for conservation action by the Honduras Amphibian Rescue & Conservation Center to combat population declines caused by amphibian chytrid fungus. Photo by Jonathan E. Kolby.
Soon after dark, a Mossy Red-eyed Frog (Duellmanohyla soralia) emerges from stream-side vegetation in Cusuco National Park in search of insects to consume. Photo by Jonathan E. Kolby.

Follow Mike Gaworecki on Twitter: @mikeg2001

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