The Amphibian Foundation's Frog Blog

We were delighted to host this past Frog Watch training workshop in the 'Nest' classroom at Blue Heron . Here is Robert Hill , Curator of Herpetology at Zoo Atlanta instructing the new citizen scientists. Amphibian Monitoring programs like Frog Watch, and our own MAAMP are vital to keep track of regional amphibian declines and getting the community involved in conservation. For more information, see: https://zooatlanta.org/conservation-action/frogwatch-usa/

The Biology, Management and Conservation of North American Salamanders — A training course Location:   The course will be held in joint venues at Zoo Atlanta and Atlanta Botanical Garden, Atlanta, Georgia. Dates:   April 11th – 15th, 2016 Amphibian Ark, Atlanta Botanical Garden and Zoo Atlanta are pleased to announce the Biology, Management and Conservation of North American Salamanders training course. The planned course will consist of five days of intensive training, including lectures, hands-on practical exercises, and fieldwork. Topics covered during the course will include: salamander biology, conservation and management; enclosure design and construction; captive breeding techniques; biosecurity and disease control; monitoring and surveys of wild and captive populations; education and scientific engagement. Globally recognized amphibian biologists, veterinarians, and conservationists will comprise course’s faculty. Course is limited to 20 students. Fo...

Williams Bluff. The beautiful release site of head-started Gopher frogs on protected Nature Conservancy land. This week, I had the opportunity to join Dr Maerz from UGA with Robert Hill and David Brothers from Zoo Atlanta to help sample Gopher frogs at the release site in Early County, GA. Gopher frogs ( Lithobates capito ) inhabit burrows but don't build them themselves. They 'share' underground accommodations made by Gopher tortoises, Pocket gophers and mother nature (i.e. tree stumps). It's not easy to find a frog which lives underground ... and this was my first opportunity to use a camera scope (am LED lit camera at the end of a 20' snake) so we could see down these long subterranean  burrows. We were looking for released Gopher frogs that were still making a living at the release site. Dr John Maerz (UGA)  and Robert Hill (Zoo Atlanta) sampling a Gopher tortoise burrow with the camera scope Zoo Atlanta's Robert Hill (top) and David Brot...

Last week, I took the amazing volunteers in the amphibian conservation program to Zoo Atlanta , where Robert Hill (former Garden amphibian staff) gave us all an incredible behind-the-scenes tour of the reptile house. It was fantastic! Robert discussing some of the projects he has going on at the zoo Anthony behaved himself in the room full of things that would love to bite him The least blurry of all of Anthony's shots. (from the left: Ryan Schultz, Stephen Mottram, Anita Wallace,  Mark Mandica, Stefanie Hanagud, Robert Hill and Kirill Chernoff)