Shopping cart
Researchers at the University of California, Davis monitored the pond turtle populations from 2016 to 2022 at two sites in the park that also have bullfrogs present and two sites where the bullfrogs are not present. The researchers removed 12,317 bullfrogs, larvae, and whole egg masses from one site and 4,067 bullfrogs from the other site and completely removed all of the amphibians by 2019.
The study showed that there was a lack of juvenile recruitment where the invasive bullfrogs were present and instituting a control on the amphibians could assist in recovering turtle populations by easing the predation of pond turtle hatchlings and juveniles. The eradication of the bullfrogs may be necessary to ensure that these native turtles persist.
The complete study, “Effects of invasive American bullfrogs and their removal on Northwestern pond turtles,” can be read on the Biological Conservation website.
Read more info about this topic using the following link.
About Western Pond Turtle
The western pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata) is native to California and much of the West Coast of the United States. Listed as vulnerable by the IUCN, the western pond turtle is an omnivore, subsisting on insects, crayfish and other aquatic invertebrates as well as plant matter. They are also known to eat fish, tadpoles and dead animal matter.
About Bullfrog
American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) is the largest native frog in North America. Growing to about 8 inches in length, the American bullfrog is large, strong, and overall just a beast of a frog. These frogs are great swimmers with big webbed feet, and are voracious eaters, capable of eating almost anything that they can fit into their mouths. The frog is found throughout much of the United States, naturally in 36 states, and is found in many places where it is an invasive species.
Read also:
Scientists Registered a Rapid Increase in Frog Numbers after Mass Pond Digging in Aargau
Woodland Park Zoo Releases Western Pond Turtles to Protected Wetlands
Meet the very special RHF edition Herpetoculture Artworks
