Endangered frog gets a new jump-start in life

The mountain yellow-legged frog, that marvelous invalid of amphibians, may have yet another chance to avoid extinction.

Already imperiled by modernity, the sweet-voiced croaker was devastated by the 2003 forest fires that ravaged its native habitat in Southern California forestland.

Then 11 were found near the City Creek area of the San Bernardino Mountains and brought to the San Diego Zoo for a captive-breeding experiment.

Despite around-the-clock attention, they succumbed to a condition akin to tuberculosis.

Amphibian-lovers were close to saying farewell to the yellow-legged frog, which once roamed Southern California.

But in August, 82 tadpoles were spotted along a stream in the San Jacinto Mountains. The first thought of wildlife officials was to leave them alone. But officials with the U.S. Forest Service noted that the stream’s water level was dropping, a death sentence for the tadpoles.

“The very next day we had a multi-agency response team at the site,” said Gar Abbas, aquatic ecosystems program manager with the Forest Service.

The tadpoles were scooped up and rushed to the zoo’s Conservation and Research for Endangered Species facility, scene of the earlier disappointment.

Five of the 82 tadpoles died shortly after arriving at the CRES complex at the zoo’s Wild Animal Park. The rest are morphing nicely. Ten already are frogs, and others are growing legs.

Their hopes dashed before, the frogs’ caregivers are cautious in their optimism.

“I’m pretty confident, but you never know, especially with tadpoles,” said frog project leader Jeffrey Lemm. “It can look good one day and turn around the next.”

Long-range plans call for releasing the frogs into the wild but keeping some studs in captivity. The yellow-legged frog once could be seen and heard throughout the lower half of the state, but predators and habitat loss reduced its population to a few hundred.

These are tough times for frogs. A fast-moving fungus has wiped out 120 species worldwide since 1980. That gives the yellow-legged effort a certain urgency.

“Frogs globally are in big trouble,” said Allison Alberts, director of the conservation facility. “To me, it’s not acceptable to lose any species.”

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tony.perry@latimes.com