It didn’t look good for the dusky gopher frog. By the early 2000s, scientists knew of fewer than 100 adults left at a single seasonal pond in southern Mississippi, and that population faced an imminent threat: The water kept drying up before the tadpoles turned into frogs, killing them. Then, to make things worse, a parasite hit. A few survivors were taken into captivity. They refused to mate.
But two decades later, the frog’s trajectory has turned around. While the species remains critically endangered and still relies on intensive interventions, its numbers have grown to around 600 adults, spread out over some 15 ponds and a handful of captive populations that now produce offspring.
It’s been a roller-coaster ride. Over the years, collaborators — from federal and state agencies, academia, zoos and other conservation organizations — have lived through crushing lows, dizzying highs and chronic worry over the three-inch frogs. There have been brushes with disaster, like when critical genetic diversity was saved by relocating two frogs at a crucial moment. There have been quixotic quests to kindle froggy romance: Entire ponds have been constructed at the Memphis Zoo to tempt captive populations into mating.
50 States, 50 Fixes is a series about local solutions to environmental problems. More to come this year.
Not to mention the mundane logistics. Some of the most important work has to happen on frog time (at night) and in frog weather (pouring rain).
