Mountain chicken facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mountain chicken |
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| Conservation status | |
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Leptodactylus
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| Species: |
fallax
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The Leptodactylus fallax, also known as the mountain chicken or giant ditch frog, is a critically endangered species of frog. It lives on the Caribbean islands of Dominica and Montserrat. Its population dropped by at least 80% between 1995 and 2004, and it has continued to decline.
Today, only a very small wild population remains on Dominica. Scientists are working hard to protect it there. On Montserrat, very few or no mountain chickens are left in the wild. Their survival now depends on a special breeding program in zoos around the world.
At first, the frog's numbers fell because of hunting, habitat loss, and natural disasters. But the biggest danger now is a fungal disease called chytridiomycosis. This disease caused the most recent and fastest decline. On Montserrat, people call it the mountain chicken. On Dominica, it is known as the crapaud, which is simply the French word for "toad."
Contents
Why Is It Called "Mountain Chicken"?
The mountain chicken got its nickname because people on Montserrat and Dominica used to hunt it for food. It was a local treat! People said it supposedly tastes like chicken.
What Does the Mountain Chicken Look Like?
The mountain chicken is one of the largest frogs in the world. It is the biggest frog in its family, Leptodactylidae, and the largest frog native to the Caribbean. It can weigh up to 1 kg (2.2 lb) (about 2.2 pounds). It can also grow up to 22 cm (8.7 in) (about 8.7 inches) long from its snout to its vent. However, most adult frogs are about 17–18 cm (6.7–7.1 in) (6.7-7.1 inches) long. Female frogs are usually larger than males.
This frog's color can vary a lot. Its upper body might be a solid chestnut-brown, or it might have stripes or spots. The color turns more orange-yellow on its sides and pale yellow underneath. A black line runs from its snout to the corner of its mouth. Its upper legs often have wide bands.
The mountain chicken also has a special dark-outlined fold of skin from the back of its head to its groin. It has large, noticeable eyes with dark pupils and a golden iris. Its body is strong, with a big head and very muscular legs. Male mountain chickens are smaller than females. They also have a black 'spur' on each thumb. These spurs help them hold onto the female during mating.
Where Do Mountain Chickens Live?
The mountain chicken used to live on many of the Lesser Antillean islands in the eastern Caribbean. But now, it is only found on Dominica and Montserrat. It definitely used to live on Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Kitts, and Nevis, but it is gone from those places now. It might have also lived on Saint Lucia and Antigua. There were attempts to bring it to Jamaica and Puerto Rico, but these failed.
In the early 2000s, most mountain chickens on Montserrat lived in the Centre Hill area in the north. Volcanic eruptions had already made them disappear from much of the rest of the island. On Dominica, they were found on the western side. They are also on the eastern side of Dominica, but it is not clear if they are native there or if they were brought there by people.
Mountain chickens live in many moist places. These include thick secondary forests, scrubland, hillside farms, palm groves in river valleys, and flooded forests. They are most often found near streams and springs. They are rarely seen in grasslands. On Dominica, they were most common at lower elevations, but they can live up to 400 m (1,300 ft) (about 1,300 feet) high. On Montserrat, they were found up to 430 m (1,410 ft) (about 1,400 feet) high.
Behavior and Daily Life
The mountain chicken is a land animal and is nocturnal, meaning it is active at night.
This frog is a "sit-and-wait" predator. It has a huge appetite and eats almost anything it can swallow whole. It blends in well with its surroundings and stays still for a long time. Then, it ambushes its prey, usually at night. Its diet is varied, but it only eats meat. It mostly eats crickets and other insects. However, it also eats millipedes, crustaceans, spiders (even tarantulas), and sometimes even small animals with backbones. These can include other frogs, snakes, and small mammals like bats. Even though it eats other frogs, it does not eat its own kind, except for unfertilized eggs. During the day, the mountain chicken hides in burrows it digs into moist soil.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
The mountain chicken has a very unusual way of having babies. Unlike most other amphibians that breed in water, this frog breeds in burrows. These burrows are about 50 cm (20 in) (about 20 inches) deep. The breeding season starts near the end of the dry season, usually in April when there are heavy rains. It continues until August or September.
At the start of this time, male frogs compete for the best nesting spots. They wrestle and make loud 'whooping' calls from forest paths and clearings. The male that wins takes over a nesting burrow. He then makes 'trilling barks' to attract a female.
Once a pair forms, the male and female mate. The female releases a fluid, and the male uses his back legs to quickly paddle it into a foam. Building this nest takes 9 to 14 hours. After the nest is built, the male leaves the burrow to protect it from other frogs. The female then lays her eggs inside.
After the tadpoles hatch, the female lays up to 25,000 unfertilized eggs. The tadpoles eat these eggs. While the young frogs develop, which takes about 45 days, the female keeps adding new foam to the nest. She only leaves to find food for herself. Finally, 26 to 43 small froglets emerge from the nest. This usually happens when the wet season begins, and there is plenty of food.
The mountain chicken becomes an adult at about 3 years old. It can live for about 12 years. Adult females only have one group of babies per season. However, male frogs can father babies with more than one female.
Threats and Conservation Efforts
The mountain chicken's population first dropped because of hunting, natural disasters, and habitat loss. It was thought that the population had fallen by over 80 percent from 1995 to 2004. Even so, the species still seemed common in good habitats until recently. But in 2002, a disease appeared on Dominica, and the population quickly crashed. The disease appeared on Montserrat in 2009, also causing a fast decline.
It is believed that tens of thousands of these frogs once lived on each island. In 2004, it was estimated that the total population might have fallen to 8,000 frogs. But by 2017–2019, there were fewer than 200 frogs on Dominica. On Montserrat, few or none survived in the wild. A special captive breeding program is now run by several zoos. Some of these frogs have been returned to Montserrat. They live in a special fenced area in semi-wild conditions.
Hunting Dangers
On Dominica, this critically endangered frog was popular for its meaty legs. These were cooked in traditional West Indian dishes. Until recently, it was even the country's national dish. Before hunting was banned, people were thought to be catching between 8,000 and 36,000 frogs each year.
The mountain chicken is very vulnerable to hunting. It has a relatively small number of babies, which makes it hard for the population to recover from heavy losses. Also, removing breeding females is especially harmful. This is because the tadpoles depend on the females for food and moisture. The frog's large size, loud calls, and tendency to sit in the open also make it an easy target for hunters.
Hunting the mountain chicken was banned on Dominica in the late 1990s. However, a three-month hunting season was allowed at the end of 2001. Hunting was not fully stopped until 2003. Public awareness programs have also been started. These programs teach people on Dominica about the dangers the mountain chicken faces and try to stop hunting.
The Threat of Disease
Perhaps the biggest and least understood threat to the mountain chicken today is a deadly fungal disease called chytridiomycosis. This disease has wiped out many amphibian populations around the world. It arrived on Dominica in 2002. In just 1.5 years, the frog population on the island dropped to almost zero.
Although there are signs that the Dominican population might be slowly recovering, by 2017, it was still estimated to be less than 200 frogs. This was before Hurricane Maria, which might have harmed the tiny population even more. Sometime between 2005 and 2009, the fungus was brought to Montserrat. It might have arrived on small frogs on imported banana leaves. It then spread south from northern ports along river systems. In 2009, it was thought that only two mountain chicken populations were left without the disease.
In 2009–2010, the entire Montserrat population quickly crashed. Only a couple of frogs were known to be alive in the wild in 2011. No frogs have been definitely seen after 2016. By 2019, the species was considered functionally extinct on Montserrat. This means there are too few left to keep the population going in the wild.
Other Dangers
The mountain chicken has also lost huge areas of its home. This is due to farming, tourist buildings, human settlements, and, on Montserrat, volcanic eruptions. On Dominica, the frog mostly lives in coastal areas. These areas are in high demand for building, industry, and farming. On Montserrat, volcanic activity since 1995 has destroyed all populations outside of the Centre Hills.
When people move closer to the frog's habitat, it also comes into contact with pollution. This includes very toxic chemicals like Paraquat, which can kill birds and mammals. New threats also come from introduced animals like wild cats, dogs, pigs, and opossums. These animals hunt the frogs on Dominica.
In February 2010, volcanic activity from Soufrière Hills on Montserrat covered large parts of the frog's habitat with ash. This put the species in even more danger.
Captive Breeding Programs
After the terrible volcanic eruptions on Montserrat, it became clear that special efforts were needed to save the mountain chicken from extinction. In July 1999, the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust brought six male and three female frogs to Jersey Zoo (formerly Durrell Wildlife Park). This was the start of a captive breeding program. More frogs were taken from areas without the disease. The species has bred well in captivity, and many other zoos have also had success. These captive frogs now form a "safety-net" population. This means they could help save the species if it disappears in the wild. Also, since January 1998, the Montserrat Forestry and Environment Division has been watching the frog's population. They work with Fauna and Flora International.
Since the captive breeding effort for the Montserrat population started in 1999 at Jersey Zoo, it has been very successful. It is part of an EEP breeding program. More than twenty European zoos and five US zoos are involved. Healthy groups of baby frogs are produced every year. In 2019, the captive European population had 236 frogs.
Some frogs bred in Europe have been returned to their home island of Montserrat. They were released between 2011 and 2014. This is a trial program to see if they can successfully live in the wild again. These frogs are watched closely to see how they react to the chytrid fungus found throughout Montserrat. They live in a fenced, semi-wild area. Their water pool is heated to 31 °C (88 °F) (about 88°F) by solar power. This temperature is too high for the chytrid fungus to live.
From 2007 to 2017, there were attempts to start a local captive breeding program for the Dominica population. However, it did not succeed. It was finally stopped when the facilities in Dominica were destroyed by Hurricane Maria.
Images for kids
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The mountain chicken frog in its natural habitat.
