UBC study calls for further attention to frog relocation

Frogs, as well as other amphibians and reptiles, are being relocated as part of construction projects, but no one is checking on their survival rates. (Megan Winand)

Millions of frogs are moved in B.C. during construction projects, and a new study says no one is paying attention to whether they survive in their new homes.

The University of British Columbia study also considers salamanders, snakes, and various reptiles and amphibians. Research gathered for the study indicates that over five million of these creatures were relocated as a result of developments across the province from 2019 to 2022.

This broke down further to 277 permits, which moved 5,134,254 amphibians and reptiles across 28 species. Researchers looked over 629 reports, but hundreds were unavailable for review due to “confidentiality or missing permit reports in the database,” while others showed no translocation or no eligible creatures found, according to the report.

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As the project’s authors explain, this process is called mitigation translocation. Companies acquire a permit for their work, bring specialists on site to move amphibians and reptiles, and then the creatures are no longer their problem — as they aren’t required to determine or disclose survival rates.

This happens in bridge work, forestry projects, development of hydroelectric dams, mining projects, railway work, oil and gas pipeline projects, the development of new roadways, and in all kinds of urban development we see in and around towns and cities.

Recent UBC master of science grad Megan Winand was the lead author on the project, and says this stems from the lack of legal requirements for mitigation translocation.

“Going forward, we recommend prioritizing avoidance, investing in habitat creation or restoration, and enforcing transparent reporting requirements if we are to mitigate harm to herpetofauna,” reads an excerpt from the study.

In Alberta and Ontario, researchers say mitigation translocation is restricted to species labelled “at-risk” by the federal government and explain that the process is “rarely documented.”

B.C., meanwhile, adopted their method in the last decade as what researchers call a “minimization strategy.” It started with the development of the Sea to Sky Highway, during which the then-at-risk northern red-legged frog, among other species, moved to areas outside of the project’s footprint. Since then, mitigation translocation has been “standard practice,” according to the authors.