Save the Frogs! Letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife in Support of 201 Salamander Species
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Dr. Kerry Kriger, Save the Frogs!
March 2016

In my letter, I detail the potential impacts of infectious diseases on amphibian populations; I address common misconceptions regarding the ruling; I discuss ethical issues surrounding amphibian captivity; and I urge for restrictions on the importation and interstate transportation of amphibians.

One threat to California Tiger Salamanders (Ambystoma californiense) is "genetic pollution". In decades past, Tiger Salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum) from the Midwest were transported across state lines and brought to California. The non-native salamanders breed with the California Tiger Salamanders and produce hybrids, decreasing successful breeding of pure California Tiger Salamanders. Photo by SAVE THE FROGS! Ecologist Michael Starkey.

On March 13, 2016, I submitted a three page letter in support of the recent USFWS ruling restricting the importation and interstate transportation of 201 salamander species (Docket ID: FWS-HQ-FAC-2015-0005). In my letter, I detail the potential impacts of infectious diseases on amphibian populations; I address common misconceptions regarding the ruling; I discuss ethical issues surrounding amphibian captivity; and I urge for restrictions on the importation and interstate transportation of amphibians.

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On behalf of SAVE THE FROGS! (www.savethefrogs.com) and our members throughout the USA, I am writing in support of the USFWS ruling restricting the importation and interstate transportation of 201 salamander species (Docket ID: FWS-HQ-FAC-2015-0005).

I am an ecologist with 13 years of professional experience in amphibian conservation and disease ecology. I spent four years exclusively researching and authoring original publications on the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (www.savethefrogs.com/chytrid), a close relative of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans. Both of these fungi have been found in captive amphibians and have been linked to rapid and drastic population declines in amphibians. I have visited many locations on several continents where amphibian communities have been decimated by chytrid fungi. Many streams worldwide are now entirely without amphibians due to the arrival of chytridiomycosis. There are no known ways to eradicate chytrid fungi from wild amphibian communities, and many species can be driven to complete extinction within months of the arrival of Batrachochytrium. Preventing the spread of Batrachochytrium is the only way known to protect amphibian populations from its devastating impacts, which have been documented in hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific publications over the past 18 years.

Read the entire letter here (PDF)

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