Imported Fungus Decimates Montserrat Frogs

"Montserrat's "mountain chicken" frog has become the latest victim of the killer fungal disease that is devastating amphibians worldwide.

UK researchers say that only two small pockets of the animals on the tiny Caribbean island remain disease-free.

The mountain chicken (Leptodactylus fallax) is one of the world's largest frogs, and appears on the coat of arms of neighbouring Dominica.

Conservationists plan to take surviving frogs into captive breeding programmes.

They suspect the chytrid fungus entered Montserrat on small frogs stowing away in consignments of produce from Dominica.

"We've always been afraid that frogs coming in banana consignments from Dominica would bring chytrid and that it would then spread into the centre of the island," said John Fa, director of conservation science at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust."

ORIGINAL SOURCE: BBC NEWS