Mickey faces challenge from frog

Mickey Mouse is going to face stiff competition to rule 2008 as the Year of the Rat (or Mouse) because the charming Prince Frog is laying claim to the year as the Year of the Frog.

Although, according to the Chinese zodiac calendar, 2008 is the Year of the Rat, the World Association of Zoos and Aquaria (WAZA) has declared 2008 to be the Year of the Frog.

Frogs are usually identified as slimy creatures that roam about in swampy areas, but they're also faced with a decline in population caused by a fungal disease called the Chytridiomycosis (Chytrid).

Zoo Negara in Malaysia hosted the first Amphibian Workshop 2008 to create awareness and understanding of the amphibian struggle for survival.

The workshop, organised by the Southeast Asian Zoos Association was held in Kuala Lumpur from January 15 to 18.

According to Zoo Negara Director, Dr. Mohammad Ngah, the workshop is aiming for an ex-situ conservation effort as the only hope for the survival of many amphibian species.

"Ex-situ is an off-site conservation programme, in which the species are taken from a threatened habitat and placed in a safe location with proper care by human experts," he said.

Mohammad said this year, all the zoos in the world would be relocating the threatened frog species in ex-situ.

This Chytrid fungus is causing many amphibian species to become extinct and is also considered a biodiversity threat. Many people are not aware of this as it was only discovered through scientific observation. Currently, the hottest spot in the world for this fungus is Japan," Mohammad said.

"In Malaysia, one theory for the high rise in dengue cases is that there are not enough frogs to feed on the mosquitoes. This is assuming that the Chytrid is out but we have not done any research on this," he said.

"Now that we have the Amphibian Centre at Zoo Negara for frog conservation purposes, we must first learn how to manage them. Then we should start educating the public on the chytrid threat and the conservation of the amphibians," Mohammad said.

"The centre will act as a back-up for the frogs to be released later on, assuming the chytrid is out there and wipes out the habitat," he said.

Mohammad said that the centre would focus on adding more local frogs with research to follow suit.

According to Dr. Mohamed Reza Tarmizi, who is in charge of the reptiles and amphibians, the centre, opened last September, has about 20 frogs.

"They are the Anura frogs, or the tailless that belong to five families - Ranidae, Megophryidae, Bufonidae, Rhacophoridae and the Microhylidae," Reza said.

"The biggest challenge is to modify the vivarium (place for keeping animals in their natural condition) into an environment for the frogs to live in because they need closure, water and humidity. It was also hard at first in terms of feeding as some frogs needed assistance," he said.

"We feed them once every three days as they can conserve food for several days. They have very moist skin with which they breathe through. Frogs can be found at every level from water to ground and even on trees," he said. Reza said that most female frogs were larger than the males and they also exhibited territorial behaviour.

Starmetro