How Edmonton’s zoo is helping to bring a local amphibian back from the brink

Rocky Mountain leopard frogs, with their distinctive spots, can be seen at the Edmonton Valley Zoo. They are part of a breeding program to help restore wild populations of the at-risk amphibian. (Cameron Wiebe/CTV News Edmonton)

Since 2019, the Edmonton Valley Zoo has been helping protect a species at risk of extinction.

The zoo is one of just two captive breeding programs for the Rocky Mountain northern leopard frog. It is one of the most endangered amphibians in B.C. and a species at risk here in Alberta.

• Download our app to get Edmonton alerts on your device

Zookeeper Makayla Ohlmann said it’s due to multiple factors, including habitat destruction, wetland loss, introduced disease and pollution.

“We’re also seeing some invasive species. So as everything’s getting warmer, other things are moving north, such as the American bullfrog, which is then eating a lot of our frogs as well,” she added.

Amphibians, like frogs, are an important indicator species, Ohlmann explained, because their skin is very sensitive to changes in the ecosystem.

“If they’re not present, then that means that something’s going wrong in the environment around them. So frogs are a really good indicator to let us know if something is up,” she said.

According to the Valley Zoo, populations began declining sharply in the 1970s, with Edmonton’s frog population estimated to have been completely lost by the 1980s.

The Edmonton Valley Zoo’s breeding program keeps about 30 adult frogs which it breeds and releases to try and create new self-sustaining populations in B.C.

Last year, it released about 1,800 tadpoles.

“The idea (is) to bring them back first in a couple little spaces, and hopefully we can expand them into a whole bunch of new areas,” Ohlmann said.

The zoo is also protecting against “catastrophic extinction” of the species in the wild by helping breed and maintain one of three captive populations of frogs, with the other two being cared for at the Vancouver Aquarium and the Calgary zoo.

“There’s animals that are no longer in the environment that they used to be in, and often the reasons are because of our own doing,” Ohlmann said.

“In order to kind of help them and give them a better head start and opportunity, these programs, like breeding programs, insurance populations, give us just a little bit better chance of giving them a shot at just being back in the wild.”

More information on the breeding program can be found on the Edmonton Valley Zoo website.