1 HULA PAINTED FROG NOT EXTINCT AFTER ALL A black belly and white spots make the Hula painted frog easy to recognize The first two frogs were discovered in 1940 near Israel’s Hula Lake Another one was found in 1955 Then the lake and wetlands were drained to help stop the spread p stop the spread of malaria a disease carried by mosquitoes No one saw the frogs for decades after that Scientists thought they were extinct Years later the lake was turned into a nature reserve The area could 4 The Hula ainted frog The Hula painted frog The Hula painted frog has a black u de side ha has a black underside has a black underside de id bl k with white dots with white dots with white dots
IUCN RED LIST The International Union for the Conservation of Nature IUCN keeps a list of all threatened species in the world called the Red List Each species is labeled according to how at risk it is Least Concern Not considered at risk Near Threatened At risk of being vulnerable or endangered in the future Vulnerable At risk of extinction Endangered At high risk of extinction Critically Endangered At extremely high risk of extinction Extinct in the Wild Only lives in captivity Extinct No members of a species are left support wildlife again Then in 2011 a park ranger was on patrol A Hula painted frog jumped right in front of him Since then approximately 14 Hula painted frogs have been found The population seems to be small but the state of the frogs habitat is promising The lake is cleaner than before and a deadly fungus that has killed other frogs around the world is nowhere to be seen Since the Hula painted frog has only recently been rediscovered Israel has just started plans for its conservation 0 Number of Hula painted frogs spotted between 1955 and 2011 Status Critically endangered Population Unknown Home Israel Life Span Unknown Scientists have another reason to be excited about the rediscovery of this frog They have determined the Hula painted frog belongs to a particular group of amphibians that they thought was long gone Before this discovery scientists could only study this amphibian group Latonia through fossils 5
2 HELLBENDER SALAMANDERS HEAD BACK TO STREAMS Devil dog lasagna lizard and snot otter are some of the hellbender salamander’s nicknames Found in cold mountain streams these salamanders can grow up to two feet 0 6 m long Their dark coloring helps them to blend in with river rocks or driftwood In recent years the salamanders became even harder to find Hellbender salamanders can only survive in a very specific habitat They breathe underwater through pores in their skin They have to live in flowing streams to do this If the water flow is too slow not enough g 6 water will pass over the salamander It will not get enough oxygen Man-made dams have decreased water flow The hellbenders have other problems too Erosion has covered rocks that they use for nesting And construction and agriculture activities have polluted the water in some areas Sometimes fishermen kill the salamanders because they think they are poisonous even though they are not Natural predators also eat the salamanders young Since the 1980s hellbender Hellbenders use their strong sense of smell to detect food such as worms and small fish
Hellbenders are the world’s third-largest species of salamander populations in some areas had decreased by almost half Some groups have worked to repair hellbenders habitats They replaced flat rocks in the streams for the salamanders to use for nesting Scientists also found that not enough young hellbenders seemed to be making it to adulthood in the wild So they started raising them in captivity They released the salamanders once they were at least 12 inches 30 5 cm long At that size they were big enough to avoid most predators Hundreds of hellbender salamanders have been reintroduced into the wild in this way 160 million Years the hellbender has been around according to fossil records Status Near threatened Population Unknown Home United States Life Span 30 years THINK ABOUT IT When amphibians are not doing well it is often an indicator of poor water quality Pollution erosion and dams can all affect water quality When these problems occur how do you think other animals are affected 7
