E06: Rescuing the Panamanian Golden Frog with Edgardo Griffith
E06 - The frogs that checked into a hotel: Panama's first amphibian rescue center, 20 years on
In Episode 6 of Amphibian Rescue, we travel to El Valle de Antón, in central Panama, to hear the rescue story of the Panamanian golden frog (Atelopus zeteki)—a species so beloved it appears on countless souvenirs and has had its own National Day since 2010. Yet its popularity did not prevent the species from disappearing from El Valle. But there's hope for the golden frog.
Edgardo Griffith, founder and president of the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center (EVACC), takes us back to how it all began. In the early 2000s, golden frogs were being collected from the streams in El Valle and sold at the Sunday market for as little as 25 cents. Then the chytrid fungus arrived in Panama, and there was no local ex situ facility ready. Edgardo mobilized to get these frogs checked into a hotel: two rented rooms that became a quarantine room and a clean room, and stayed that way for over 14 months while the facilities were being built in a local zoo.
Twenty years later, EVACC cares for more than 30 local amphibian species, and has now built its first outdoor enclosures to start preparing some of those frogs for the day they can go back into the wild. What has to happen before that day comes? And what does it take to fulfill Edgardo's promise to the frogs?
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About our guest:
Edgardo Griffith is the president and founder of the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center (EVACC) in El Valle de Antón, Panama. He has worked in both in situ and ex situ amphibian conservation for more than 20 years, including with Project Golden Frog and helping establish Panama's first amphibian rescue facility, which led to the foundation of EVACC, and he has led it ever since. Today, EVACC operates as an independent Panamanian NGO that you can visit in El Valle de Antón!
Find out more about EVACC on their website: https://www.evaccfoundation.org/
Follow EVACC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evaccfoundation
About the podcast
Amphibian Rescue is produced and hosted by María Braeuner, with original music by Pablo Bolaños | Biota Specimens.
Episodes are reviewed and fact-checked by the Amphibian Ark team of experts: Luis Carrillo, Devin Edmonds, Renata Ibelli Vaz, Jonathan Wilcken, Cybele Lisboa, Elizabeth Townsend, María José Chang, and Beatriz Velásquez.
Cover image of this episode: © N. Nehring | Getty Images
Intro and outro video footage by © Jaime Culebras
Other photos and videos used in Episode 6 © EVACC Foundation, Devin Edmonds, N. Nehring | Getty Images, Mabelin Santos | Getty Images, Diario La Prensa Panama
The podcast is made possible thanks to the continued support of Amphibian Ark donors and partners around the world.
Together, we can continue rescuing amphibians in crisis.
💚 Support Amphibian Ark’s work: www.AmphibianArk.org/support-us/
