Disease vectors and the community: from lost frogs to frog friendly gardens - how do we help frogs while containing disease spread?

Gerry Marantelli and Raelene Hobbs

Amphibian Research Centre, P.O. Box 424, Brunswick, Vic., Australia 3056

The 90's was undoubtedly the decade of the frog. Our amphibian friends replaced dolphins and whales as the public's environment icon and galvanised a community into action. All manner of programs involving community participation were initiated, from frog-watching and monitoring to developing frog populations in garden ponds. Lost frogs were rescued and sent home - at one time, Ansett even gave all lost frogs a free flight!

By the mid-90s concerns were being raised about the potential of displaced frogs and community translocations to modify gene pools and species distributions, and to accelerate the spread of disease. The first attempt to quantify the magnitude of accidental displacements of frogs in produce was carried out in 1995. The result: over 50,000 displacements annually,(70% of which were released at the point of arrival) spawned a Victorian program to recover, quarantine and adopt-out these frogs as pets, an option preferred over their return to the wild. At the same time articles in frog group newsletters began to encourage "attracting" frogs to, rather than "planting" frogs in, your garden.

A number of frog groups have now adopted these strategies that minimise the risk of disease transmission. A recent revisiting of the 1995 survey has shown the Victorian program has effected a threefold reduction in releases of lost frogs and over 1000% increase in their retrieval. The problems associated with controlling these potential disease vectors are significant and beyond the resources of the scientific community. Appropriate involvement of an already enthused community is the only method that will effect their long term reduction.