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Yosemite frog returns after a century of trout removal
A 20-year study of more than 7,000 surveys in Yosemite National Park has found that the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog population has increased sevenfold, the National Parks Conservation Association reports. The frog…
The Story in Brief
A 20-year study of more than 7,000 surveys in Yosemite National Park has found that the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog population has increased sevenfold, the National Parks Conservation Association reports. The frog had disappeared from over 93% of its range by the mid-2000s after non-native trout, first introduced in 1877, ate its eggs and young, and a fungal disease called chytridiomycosis killed many adults.
Conservation work beginning in the mid-2000s removed fish from selected lakes using gill nets and electrofishing. The frog now also shows signs of greater tolerance to the fungus. Fish stocking stopped in 1991, but existing trout populations only declined after active removal efforts. The species was listed under the US Endangered Species Act in 2014.
The Indian Opinion
This Yosemite recovery is a rare good news story from the West, but the narrative of simple human intervention reversing damage is lazy. The frog's comeback involved two specific factors, fish removal and possible fungal resistance, neither easily replicable elsewhere. Conservation rarely offers a tidy lesson. The real test is whether this frog can recolonise lakes still holding trout or Bd. That number, not the happy headlines, will tell the true story.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
