Animals

A frog’s story of surviving a fungal pandemic offers hope for other species

Evolution and a reintroduction project rescued an endangered California amphibian

A Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog sticking its head out of the water

A fungal disease nearly wiped out the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog (one shown in Yosemite National Park in 2008). But the species has bounced back.

R. Knapp

By Martin J. Kernan

Slimy heralds of hope are hopping around Yosemite National Park.

Being a frog hasn’t been easy in the High Sierra or in many other places ever since a fungal parasite began exterminating frogs in the United States, Australia and Central America 30 or so years ago.