Panama (AFP)
Sheltered from the outside world, some 200 golden frogs live in aquariums, confined in containers: in their natural state, they would not survive a killer fungus that threatens to exterminate a third of the amphibian species in Panama. .
At the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), on the Gamboa Canal, north of Panama City, an irrigation system, rocks and vegetation reproduce their natural habitat in a bath of ultraviolet light and ideal temperature.
For 11 years now, and despite being endemic to Panama, no golden frogs have been observed in their natural habitat.
Most, about 1,500, are in zoos in the United States for breeding.
But these rare black-spotted frogs measuring just 8 centimeters are not the only ones threatened by the killer fungus that spreads in the water: toads and salamanders are also in danger.
"In Panama, we can say that about a third of the 225 species of amphibians are threatened," warns Roberto Ibañez, a STRI researcher with a doctorate in zoology from the University of Connecticut (United States).
"It's a superfungal" which "can even affect other species that are not amphibians," he explains.
Chytrid Fungus becomes embedded in the animal's skin and infects it, preventing it from exchanging salts and water with its environment.
The invasion causes irreparable damage to their vital functions and the animal dies, as though asphyxiated.
"It's quite a dramatic and painful disease," says Angie Estrada, doctor of biology and administrator of the Panama Botanical Garden.
Experts claim that the fungus, detected in the 20th century on the Korean Peninsula, has already spread around the world.
This pathogen, which arrived in Panama in the early 1990s, has continued to wreak havoc ever since.
It is responsible for chytridiomycosis, an infectious disease that has already caused the disappearance of 30 species.
“Everywhere in the world where there are amphibians, there is already the Chytrid Fungus,” Ms. Estrada says.
- "There is hope" -
Despite this dark scenario, a light illuminates the end of the tunnel.
In recent years, some species considered to be extinct have been spotted.
"Some frogs are coming back, they have found a way to defend themselves" against the fungus.
"There is hope", wants to believe Ms. Estrada.
At STRI, some 2,000 specimens and 12 species of frogs are preserved in the hope of being able to release them one day, once the display against the Chytrid Fungus is found.
"The idea is not to keep these animals in captivity forever. We want to someday be able to return these populations to their natural habitat," explains Mr Ibañez.
Gina Della Togna, doctor of molecular and cellular biology from the University of Maryland, leads an amphibian assisted reproduction project in Panama and freezes sperm so that she can then fertilize females.
Sometimes she cautiously injects hormones into tiny frogs that seem to get lost in the palm of her hand.
"Of all animals, amphibians are the most endangered species in the world," she laments.
For them, "the situation is critical".
According to a World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) report released this week, the world has lost more than two-thirds of its vertebrates in less than 50 years.
The reality is particularly dramatic in the tropics of Central and South America, where the loss is 94%.
© 2020 AFP