U of Windsor partnering with Detroit Zoo to restore endangered frogs

A University of Windsor student and her professor are conducting research into endangered frogs at the Detroit Zoo — and the results could have implications for many other endangered species.

The main research subject is the Mississippi gopher frog. According to graduate student Ashley Watt, there's about 200 to 300 held in captivity and only 100 of them in the wild.

Frogs at the Detroit Zoo are being studied for the purpose of captive breeding. The goal, Watt said, is for the frogs to successfully maintain a "self-sustaining" population.

"So they are able to reproduce and bring the numbers up so the zoo is no longer needed as a large conservation effort."

Though breeding habits for frogs and toads are very "species-specific," Watt said the Detroit Zoo saw great results.

"We ended up having about 40 froglets successfully go through metamorphosis. So this year was actually a great success," she said, adding the frogs were eventually sent to Mississippi where they were released back into the wild.

Watt's work is overseen by supervising professor Trevor Pitcher, director of the Freshwater Restoration Ecology Centre. He said students in the ReNewZoo program are working on similar projects, all focused on endangered species at zoos. 

"All these different programs are really test case studies on how we can essentially save these species that threatened or endangered. So these case studies are not specific to the species, but they provide training for high-quality personnel like Ashley who can then work on other species afterward," said Pitcher.

He added frog restoration projects like this represent the first step in a more consistent partnership between the University of Windsor and Detroit Zoo.

As for Watt, she said the status of the frogs which are released in the wild will remain unknown for the next two or three months.