"Zoologists plan 'ark' to save frogs from extinction"

Zoologists from around the world were gathering in Atlanta yesterday to plead for a global action plan to save hundreds of species of frogs believed to be on the brink of extinction, because of, in part, a strange and rapidly expanding fungus.

In the past 10 years, the world has lost 170 species of frog to the fungus and other causes. Of the roughly 6,000 varieties of frog and other amphibians still remaining, such as newts and salamanders, almost a third are believed to also be under threat in regions as far apart as Japan, California, Australia and the Andes.

The two-day conference will launch a rescue operation dubbed the "Amphibian Ark". Scores of zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums will create protected habitats for the amphibians and there will also be controlled breeding programmes to save as many species as possible.

In the meantime, research will be stepped up to try to find a remedy to the fungus. Known as a chrytid fungus, it clogs the pores preventing the normal process of breathing through the skin. The condition first makes amphibians drowsy and eventually kills them as skin begins to peel away.

Herpetologists, who specialise in the study of amphibians, suspect that global warming may be partly responsible for the sudden spread of the fungus. Higher temperatures have caused increased daytime cloud cover in high tropical forests, creating perfect conditions for the fungus to thrive on the frogs.

"Something really terrifying is happening to the planet," said Joseph Mandelson, a herpetologist at Zoo Atlanta, and an organiser of this week's conference. "We'd be very stupid if we did not pay very close attention to this."

The plague, now being likened to the HIV-Aids epidemic afflicting humans, is particularly alarming because it is threatening all amphibians, which are a crucial link between water and land animals and a vital part of the ecological food chain in many habitats.

"This is the precedent of a disease working its way across an entire species on the scale of all mammals, all birds or all fish," Mr Mandelson added....

There is no definitive word yet on the origin of the deadly fungus but scientists suspect that it may have shown up first in Africa, home to the African clawed frog, which is known to carry the fungus but which appears to be immune to its effects. Other factors in the amphibian deaths include the use of pesticides and the effects of human development.

Last month, Japan for the first time confirmed that it had recorded frog deaths from the fungus. Species known to have been rendered extinct from it have been identified in Australia and Costa Rica. Other regions seeing the impact of the fungus include parts of the Rocky Mountains, all of Mexico, every country in Central America and several in the Andes range.