Cheyenne Mountain Zoo sends 2nd expedition to Panama
Posted : Dec 11, 2009 12:43 PM
Updated: Dec 11, 2009 1:57 PM
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has sent three people to the Panamanian rainforest for a project collecting endangered frogs. A fungus is endangering amphibians in Panama.
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is a founding partner in an international initiative to save amphibian species in Panama from the chytrid fungus. This is their second expedition. The team is at Cerro Brewster where they successfully collected nearly 50 endangered specimens in mid-November. This time they are targeting specific "at risk" frog specimens.
Chytrid attacks the keratin cells in an amphibian's skin. Since amphibians need their skin for respiration, electrolyte balance and protection, changes in their skin chemistry and function is fatal.
If this effort fails, it's estimated that one-third to one-half of the world's amphibians could go extinct.
Follow the progress of the team on The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's blog, In Between the Spots.
earth at Dec 11th 2009 3:54 PM
Is this something humans caused? Why else would we want to interfere with nature? Why do we always want to interfere with nature? Why do we seem to be obsessed with interfering with nature!!