This project is one of the zoo’s initiatives to protect native species from disappearing altogether. Besides the Darwin’s Frog center, the zoo has kicked off other programs this year to monitor the endangered Huemul (Andean deer) and the Andean Condor, with the aim of finding out why they are disappearing, and what can be done to boost their numbers in the wild.

Researchers hope to be able to protect the threatened groups by breeding them in captivity and later releasing them into their natural habitat.

“We are not looking to breed animals to exchange them later for exotic species in other zoos,” said Mauricio Fabry, director of the National Zoo. “We don’t want pink elephants; we want to save our own native species from extinction.”

But the scientists’ task is not a straightforward one. Darwin’s frog has a unique reproductive physiology that makes it very difficult to breed in captivity. In fact only one scientist in Germany has achieved this feat. In August, the National Zoo, the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and the Center of Advanced Ecology and Biodiversity Studies (Caseb) at the Universidad Catolica will open the center, which will house an anticipated 300 specimens for monitoring and breeding.

“The idea is to let them reproduce so that later they can be introduced into those places where they existed previously, or places where their numbers have been greatly reduced,” said Juan Carlos Ortiz head of the Darwin´s Frogs reproduction center at the University of Concepción.

The possible existence of chytrid fungus in Chile could create further problems for the scientists. The fungus, which causes a deadly infectious disease called chytridiomycosis, is an organism responsible for the devastation of frog populations around the world. But Ortiz claims that the pathogen is not the reason behind the diminishing Darwin Frog population in Chile, but rather deforestation, urban development, climate change and bush fires. He says, indeed, that it’s not clear that the fungus exists in Chile.

Fabry insists that research is vital to the conservation of native species. “Freeing animals without scientific study can be disastrous,” he said. “There are many rescue centers that release an animal into the wild with the best intentions, but they release it into a zone where it can’t survive, where it can have problems with diseases or competitor species, and this only kills the specimen.”

Putting a stop to the disappearance of these unique Chilean animals, through extensive studies, breeding in captivity and preparation for liberation, is a task that requires a tremendous commitment of resources, time and effort.

In the past eight years the National Zoo has released 87 Andean Condors into the wild and, according to Fabry, the rehabilitation of just one Condor – including medical costs, special care, and the special satellite devices to monitor them in the wild – can cost up to US$21,200.

Using satellite transmitters, researchers from the Andean Condor Bi-national Conservation Program discovered that the giant birds like to sleep in groups on particular sites in the mountains, usually at high altitudes and away from wind and rain.

“I won’t say where the main sleeping areas are,” said Fabry. “This would put the species in danger, because many ignorant people chase them down believing they kill livestock when in reality they are scavengers that clean up the countryside. These are important places to protect because there can be up to 100 Condors staying at each sleeping place.”

 

Another species taken under the Zoo’s wing is the Huemul, a deer that once roamed high-altitude forests in the mountains of southern Chile, but today it is all but extinct except for a few groups remaining in Region VIII.

“There are between 18 and 30 of them [in this region],” said Fabry. “This basically means that they are the living dead. They aren’t capable of reproducing and maintaining themselves.”

The Huemul population is being monitored, and in May a team from Conservation Patagonia captured 12 to be part of the future Patagonia National Park in Aysen (Region XI).

“Thanks to these programs we have been able to learn a lot and contribute to the protection of specific areas,” Fabry said.

SOURCE: LA NACIÓN
By Natalie Muller