El Valle Amphibian Rescue Center

In recent years, conservation biologists have drawn our attention to a worldwide decline in wild populations of frogs, toads, and salamanders - a phenomenon that has come to be called the Global Amphibian Crisis.  While habitat loss is still considered the most serious threat to the majority of species, especially in the humid tropical forest regions of the world, a fungal disease known as chytrid has been identified as being exceptionally deadly to amphibians, while not seeming to affect other groups of vertebrates – fish, reptiles, birds and mammals.

One of the regions in which chytrid epidemics have erupted is Central America, first appearing in Costa Rica and heading south into Panama.  Since it affects most amphibian species with which it comes in contact and also appears to persist in the environment, experts agree that the only hope of saving some of the more endangered, restricted-range species is to collect animals from remaining wild populations, establish captive breeding programs, and be prepared to conduct reintroduction projects in the future, should chytrid run its course or methods be found to eradicate the fungus without negatively impacting the environment.

In response to this need, the Houston Zoo has joined with a number of other AZA zoos and aquariums, academic institutions, and international conservation organizations to establish the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center in central Panama.  This new facility is still under construction, but already holds several hundred native Panamanian frogs, toads, and salamanders.  The goal is to eventually maintain as many as 1,000 animals representing approximately 40 species.  Captive breeding programs are being established for 17 high priority species Anotheca spinosa, Atelopus varius, A. zeteki, Centrolene ilex, Dendrobates vicentii, Eleutherodactylus bufoniformis, E. museosus, E. punctariolus, E. tabasarae, Gastrotheca cornuta, Hemiphractus fasciatus, Hyalinobatrachium vireovittatum, Hyla calypsa, H. colymba, H. fimbrimembra, H. palmeri, and Phyllomedusa lemur.  Many of these have never bred in captivity before and very little is known about their life histories, so we stand to learn a great deal about tropical amphibian reproductive biology as a result of this project.

UPDATE!
EVACC Opened to the Public in April!

Visit FightForTheFrogs.com for more on EVACC and the Amphibian Ark's Save the Frog Campaign.

If you would like to help support the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center and the Houston Zoo’s efforts to save threatened amphibians in Panama, please click on the button below.