3,000 Endangered Frogs Released Into California Mountains

Thousands of tiny frogs just hopped back into their mountain homes, and it's the result of nearly two decades of patient conservation work.

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance released 3,000 mountain yellow-legged frogs and tadpoles into the San Bernardino and San Jacinto mountains this year. The frogs, bred at the zoo's Beckman Center for Conservation Research, splashed into waters at Bluff Lake in the Big Bear area and several other sites across Southern California.

These amphibians were once abundant throughout these mountain ranges. Today, the species has declined by more than 98% due to disease, introduced predators, wildfires, and drought.

The zoo started breeding mountain yellow-legged frogs in 2006 as a rescue effort. What began as a small program has grown into a comprehensive conservation partnership involving the US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Geological Survey, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Scientists at the breeding center don't just raise frogs. They manage genetic diversity to keep populations healthy, study reproduction, tackle disease threats, and carefully monitor every release to track how the frogs survive in the wild.

The Ripple Effect

The numbers tell a story of steady hope. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has now reintroduced over 10,000 mountain yellow-legged frogs and tadpoles into high-elevation habitats since the program began.

Each release represents years of careful planning and cooperation between multiple agencies. Conservation teams continue visiting release sites to check on the frogs, monitoring their health and watching for signs they're successfully breeding in their native streams and lakes.

Mountain yellow-legged frogs play an important role in their ecosystems as both predator and prey. Their return helps restore balance to mountain waterways that have been missing these native amphibians for years.

Sometimes saving a species means taking it one small hop at a time, and 3,000 new chances just landed in California's mountains.