St. Vincent and the Grenadines local frog population is being threatened by a deadly fungus.
Chytridiomycosis (Amphibian Chytrid Fungus Disease) is an infectious disease that affects amphibians worldwide.
It is caused by the chytrid fungus, a fungus capable of causing sporadic deaths in some amphibian populations and 100 per cent mortality in others.
Earlier this week, Director of the Government’s Forestry Department Fitzgerald Providence expressed concern about this fungus being introduced to the habitats of frogs by hikers.
“Of the things we are concerned about is when persons walk into the forests with their boost; you may walk from one area to the other, you can carry pathogens, and one of the concerns that has been impacting on our amphibians, the frogs, is a fungus called a chytrid fungus, which has been impacting on frogs. In Dominica I know they had a concern that the mountain chicken would have been lost because of this fungus but I think they have been able to combat it” he said.
Mr. Providence said that persons must be cautious of this as they move from island to island or even area to area before entering SVG’s forests where different frog species call home.
According to the Institute of Zoology the mountain chicken frog, endemic to the islands of Montserrat and Dominica, became Critically Endangered following the incursion of amphibian chytridiomycosis, which caused an 85% population decline in less than 18 months on Dominica and near-extinction in the same amount of time on Montserrat.
