The California red-legged frog, the star of Mark Twain’s short story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” persists only in a few isolated ponds in the California foothills. Most notable is the return of gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park and California condors to Pinnacles National Monument.īut less iconic creatures also are returning: Pacific fishers in Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks in Washington black-footed ferrets in Badlands and Wind Cave National Parks, South Dakota Nēnē geese in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park and Desert pupfish in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona. “It’s really gratifying - that after 50 years of absence, we can return red-legged frogs back to the park,” said Frank Dean, president of the Yosemite Conservancy, which donated $130,000 for this year’s project and more than $500,000 for overall aquatic restoration.Īll over America, national parks are playing an important role in bringing back long-gone species. The separate releases ensure that they don’t overwhelm a particular site - or a single tragedy doesn’t wipe out an entire generation. Last week, 200 more adult frogs were released in the valley, and another 275 will be released in June. Over the past three years, the program has reintroduced an estimated 4,000 California red-legged frog eggs and tadpoles and 500 adult frogs, according to Yosemite Conservancy. Fish & Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish & Wildlife and NatureBridge. Perhaps the day will come, he said, when other precious species can be returned to Yosemite, such as the yellow-legged frog, Yosemite toad and Western Pond turtle.įriday’s release was made possible through a collaboration between the National Park Service, Yosemite Conservancy, the San Francisco Zoo & Gardens, U.S. If the frog populations can be re-established in Yosemite Valley, it will inspire more releases in other sites, such as Mariposa, Tuolumne and Fresno counties, he said.
“It’s hugely rewarding,” said Rob Grasso, an aquatic ecologist with the National Park Service, who years ago first identified a red-legged frog in a pond near a timber harvest project in El Dorado National Forest and led Friday’s releases at Cook’s Meadow.
This is the first documented breeding of the re-introduced frogs, named for their brilliant vermillion legs and belly. Biologists have discovered at least 20 clusters of eggs - each holding potentially 2,500 future froglets - laid by females released last year. Krieger)Īlready there are signs of success. Jessie Bushell of San Francisco Zoo and Scott Gediman of Yosemite National Park prepare to release red-legged frogs into Cook’s Meadow in Yosemite Valley. Rare red-legged frogs released in Yosemite ValleyĮach frog wears a tiny microchip, surgically slid under its smooth skin, so its new life can be electronically tracked from afar.
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