Northern Leopard Frog Recovery Program Year 5 (2003)

Author(s)

Kris Kendell

Summary

Through the first five years of the northern leopard frog reintroduction program, nearly 12,000 leopard frogs have been captive-reared at the Raven Brood Trout Station and released into habitats within the historical range of the species. Of these 12,000 leopard frogs, approximately 7,700 have been released into the upper headwaters of the Red Deer River near Caroline. Over a three-year period beginning in 2001, 2,845 frogs have been released at a site along the North Saskatchewan River near Rocky Mountain House and over a two-year period beginning in 2002, 1,310 frogs have been released at a Ducks Unlimited property near Red Deer.

Confirmed leopard frog observations in 2001, 2002 and 2003 as well as evidence of breeding activity in 2002 show some evidence of the preliminary success of the project at the Caroline release site. With the exception of two unconfirmed leopard frog observations in 2001 at the North Saskatchewan River release site, no other observations have been documented from that site. In addition, no observations of leopard frogs have been recorded at the Ducks Unlimited property.

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