Scientists Build an Ark To Save Jungle Amphibians 127
Peace Corps Online writes "In the 1980s a deadly fungus called chytrid appeared in Central America and began moving through mountain streams, killing as many as 8 out of 10 frogs and extinguishing some species entirely. (The fungus has little effect on any other vertebrates.) Now a returned Peace Corps volunteer and her husband have opened the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center in western Panama to house more than 600 frogs as chytrid cuts a lethal path through the region. Experts agree that the only hope of saving some of the more endangered, restricted-range species is to collect animals from remaining wild populations, establish captive breeding programs, and be prepared to conduct reintroduction projects in the future. But before reintroduction can even begin, scientists must find some way to overcome the chytrid in native habitats using vaccines, breeding for resistance, or genetic engineering of the fungus. Conservationists are budgeting for 25 years of captive breeding, long enough, they believe, to allow some response to chytrid to be found. 'There are more species in need of rescue than there are resources to rescue them,' says Amphibian Ark's program director. 'When you're talking about insidious threats like disease or climate change, threats that can't be mitigated in the wild, there's simply no alternative.'"
Re:Nature (Score:5, Funny)
More like frog domestication (Score:4, Funny)
I know I've been looking forward to free-range fried frog's legs that don't let you down in the hallucination department.
Re:Evolution stymied? (Score:5, Funny)
Even trying to bread a frog ... is at best an artificial solution, and one that historically has never worked on any grand scale.
I disagree. I've successfully managed to bread frogs en masse, you just have to have a really large fryer. Delicious and crispy!
Sorry, couldn't help myself.
indeed (Score:5, Funny)
I believe Love And Rockets covered this [youtube.com]: "You cannot go against nature / because when you do / go against nature / it's part of nature too".
Thus confirming the thesis that all major questions of philosophy have been covered by 80s music.
Re:How far we've fallen (Score:5, Funny)
But you see, if you are going to start flaming on slashdot, you should try very hard to read the article (you can do it, just get plenty of sleep beforehand). You have to do it just to cover your ass. Otherwise you get flamed yourself. Asshole.
I think you forgot to add "Also, fuck you."
Re:indeed (Score:3, Funny)
Thus confirming the thesis that all major questions of philosophy have been covered by 80s music.
Philosophy maybe, but that still leaves the ethical questions regarding their 80's hairstyles...
Re:How far we've fallen (Score:3, Funny)
insidious threats like disease or climate change
I think you missed the part where they worked in climate change. Surely we must to something!
Make room for all of God's creatures.... (Score:3, Funny)