Joint effort reduces invasive bullfrogs in BC

The three-year project sought to protect the endangered northern leopard frog

Conservation efforts in British Columbia have reduced the population of invasive American bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeiana) in an effort to sustain the endangered northern leopard frog (L. pipiens) and other at-risk species. A three-year effort by the Ktunaxa Nation Council, along with the Province of BC, Columbia Basin Trust, Central Kootenay Invasive Species Society and Yaqan Nuʔkiy has surveyed for bullfrogs and trapped them throughout 684 hectares of wetlands. The project was supported by the Aboriginal Fund for Species at Risk and the Columbia Basin Trust. “Our work made a huge impact on abating the bullfrogs’ expansion into the Canadian wetlands,” said KNC’s Kerri Garner. “It would have been disastrous for the local species if we hadn’t stepped in.”

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Header Image: The spread of American bullfrogs in British Columbia has jeopardized endangered northern leopard frogs and other species. Credit: David Frey