St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ local frog population is being threatened by a deadly fungus. This information was made public by Director Forestry Department Fitzgerald Providence.
Providence speaking on WEFM said Chytridiomycosis (Amphibian Chytrid Fungus Disease) is an infectious disease that affects amphibians worldwide. It is caused by the chytrid fungus, a fungus capable of causing sporadic deaths in some amphibian populations and 100 per cent mortality in others.
He expressed concern about this fungus being introduced to the habitats of frogs by hikers.
“Of the things we are concerned about is when persons walk into the forests with their shoes; you may walk from one area to the other, you can carry pathogens, and one of the concerns that have been impacting on our amphibians, the frogs, is a fungus called a chytrid fungus. In Dominica I know they had a concern that the mountain chicken would have been lost because of this fungus but I think they have been able to combat it” he said.
Providence said that persons must be cautious of this as they move from island to island or even area to area before entering SVG’s forests where different frog species call home.
