Southern California’s mountain frogs begin their return with 650 releases

In the streams of Southern California’s mountains, the southern mountain yellow-legged frog has had a difficult few decades. The species was once far more widespread, with historic accounts describing streams where frogs were so numerous that people could scarcely move without stepping around them. Finding them in the wild is a very different proposition; their remaining populations are scattered across parts of the San Gabriel, San Bernardino and San Jacinto mountains.Conservation teams released 653 captive-bred frogs into streams in the San Gabriel Mountains. The release is part of a longer recovery effort that has already returned thousands of Los Angeles Zoo-bred frogs to native habitat.Southern mountain yellow-legged frogs make a return to mountain streamsAccording to the Association of Zoos & Aquarium (AZAs), the release happened in two stages. On 19 August, 338 southern mountain yellow-legged frogs were taken to streams in the San Gabriel Mountains and released into their native environment. A further 315 followed on 27 August, bringing the total to 653. Every frog in this release was bred at the Los Angeles Zoo. Of those, 227 had been raised in a new bio-secure amphibia...