Endangered Frog Population Now Rebounding In Yosemite Park

The Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog, a native California species that was once on the brink of extinction is now making an encouraging comeback in numbers in the Yosemite National Park. This increase in numbers is raising the hopes of scientists regarding amphibians around the world that are dying off at highly alarming rates.

The Washington Times noted that the yellow-legged frogs have become so numerous that they bounded by the dozens in lakes and streams when people approach, said University of California Sierra Nevada researcher Roland Knapp. This is especially good news considering that their numbers have started plummeting roughly a century ago when citizens in the area started stocking a non-native trout for fishing. Disease struck, removing most of the frogs from their native habitat.

Efforts to save the frog have led to a sevenfold increase on their numbers in the last 20 years. However, Knapp, who charted their rebound rates in his study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences said that they still have a long way to go from where they were, but the current numbers have become an important milestone in their recovery.

Park officials also stopped stocking non-native fish in some of Yosemite's lakes, which helped in the comeback as it seems that the frogs have developed a resistance to the chytrid fungus - which had been deadly to most amphibians. Because of this, as well as the management practices that were pushed through, the decline of the frog population have finally been reversed.

Unfortunately, as reported by CBS News, the rebound of the yellow-legged frogs has been limited to the Yosemite National Park, and making up only 13 percent of its historical habitat. Elsewhere, the frogs still remained scarce. Still, the National Park called the rebound a success, making people more hopeful of the future for the yellow-legged frog species.