Sehuencas water frog

The Sehuencas water frog (Telmatobius yuracare) is a species of frog in the family Telmatobiidae. It is endemic to Bolivia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, rivers, and freshwater marshes. It is threatened by habitat loss. While it is currently listed as vulnerable by the IUCN, this is based on an assessment that has not been updated since 2004.[1] No individuals had been encountered in the wild between 2008 and 2019.[2]

Sehuencas water frog
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Telmatobiidae
Genus: Telmatobius
Species:
T. yuracare
Binomial name
Telmatobius yuracare
De la Riva, 1994

Until 2019, there was just one captive individual called "Romeo" in Bolivia's Cochabamba Natural History Museum. There were fears that Romeo was the last of his kind, an endling. Romeo is 10 years old, and individuals of this species often do not live past age 15. Bolivian conservationists had long been looking for other Sehuencas water frog individuals, particularly females, in hopes of creating a captive breeding program. To raise awareness and money about the plight of the Sehuencas water frog, conservationists from Global Wildlife Conservation[3] and the Bolivian Amphibian Initiative created a profile for Romeo on Match.com, an online dating website.[4] In January 2019, an expedition to a Bolivian cloud forest led to the discovery of five more individuals: three males and two females.[5] The re-discovered frogs will be treated against chytridiomycosis, a fungal disease causing widespread decline of amphibians.[6] After treatment, Romeo will be introduced to a female called Juliet. Despite this, there are concerns that there are too few frogs left in the wild for a sustainable long-term population, and thus captive breeding is considered the best way to restore the species.

References
  1. Cortez, C.; Reichle, S.; De la Riva, I.; Köhler, J. (2004). "Telmatobius yuracare". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2004: e.T57369A11627745. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  2. Burrowes, P. A.; De la Riva, I. (2017). "Unraveling the historical prevalence of the invasive chytrid fungus in the Bolivian Andes: implications in recent amphibian declines". Biological Invasions. 19 (6): 1781–1794. doi:10.1007/s10530-017-1390-8.
  3. "Finding a Mate for the World's Loneliest Frog". Global Wildlife Conservation. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  4. "Bolivia's lonely frog: Scientists race to find mate for Romeo". BBC. 9 February 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  5. Briggs, Helen (15 January 2019). "World's 'loneliest' frog gets a date". BBC news. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  6. Waller, Robert W.; Fischman, Debra L.; Rodrigues, Ana S. L.; Young, Bruce E.; Cox, Neil A.; Chanson, Janice S.; Stuart, Simon N. (3 December 2004). "Status and Trends of Amphibian Declines and Extinctions Worldwide". Science. 306 (5702): 1783–1786. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.225.9620. doi:10.1126/science.1103538. PMID 15486254.
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