New Scientist - USA (2021-07-17)

17 July 2021 | New Scientist | 39

of frogs in the wild in which the disease

has been eradicated.

Now there is a feeling among

conservationists that we have to protect our

remaining frogs before they croak their last.

“It’s such a race against time, because as this

fungus spreads further, it’s affecting more

and more species,” says conservationist

Jonathan Kolby. “It’s not being controlled at

all and we’re running out of clean habitat.”

Failing to put the brakes on this situation

would be disastrous, and not just because

frogs are beautiful animals that act as linchpins

for their ecosystems. We have also recently

learned first-hand how terrible it can be

Frogs in trouble

Amphibians are suffering

their own global outbreak

of a terrible disease.

Can we turn the tide on it?

Krista Charles investigates

U

P IN the mountains of northern

Majorca, a group of toads live in a series

of rocky, rain-fed pools. They aren’t

much to look at, with their spotted, greyish-

brown skin and pale underbellies. But they are,

in their own way, very special amphibians.

If you had visited the rocky pools a few years

ago, you would have found the toads in an awful

state: those not dead would have been lethargic,

some with red, peeling skin. They were infected

with a deadly fungus that has been careening

through the world’s amphibians, and has

already wiped out dozens of species of frogs,

a group of animals that includes toads. The

Majorca midwife toads are the only species >

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