To Stem Widespread Extinction, Scientists Airlift Frogs in Carry-On Bags

[atommom]

ATLANTA, June 5 — Of all the things airport security screeners have discovered as they rifle through travelers' luggage, the suitcases full of frogs were a first.

In a race to save amphibians threatened by an encroaching, lethal fungus, two conservationists from Atlanta recently packed their carry-ons with frogs rescued from a Central American rain forest — squeezing some 150 to a suitcase — and requested permission from airlines to travel with them in the cabin of the plane.

The frogs, snuggly swaddled in damp moss in vented plastic deli containers big enough for a small fruit salad, were perhaps the last of their kind, collected from a pristine national park that fills the bowl of El Valle, an inactive volcano in Panama.

In many parts of the world, habitat loss is thought to be the biggest driver of amphibian extinctions, but the frogs in El Valle are facing a more insidious threat.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/06/science/06frog.html?ex=1307246400&en=ca087ee6d157484d&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss

ETA that I'm annoyed the NYT can't tell the difference between a fungus and a virus. Still, an interesting story...

[roguevalley]

1. what an extraordinarily sad day, when it comes to this.

[Gman]

2. "...a new lien on life"?

Virus and fungus confusion isn't the only thing.

[atommom]

3. Yes, a "new lien on life" sounds kind of ... sinister!

It is very sad that things have come to this.