Shocking as it may be to anyone with even a passing awareness of conservation issues, tiger salamander larvae (Ambystoma tigrinum) are still widely used as fishing bait throughout much of the USA.  Run through with hooks while alive, the 6-10 inch amphibians are wildly popular with anglers seeking bass, pickerel and other fishes.  Leer más.

Although considered a tree frog, don’t go looking for this species too high up in the trees. Even though they are great climbers, these drably colored frogs seem to prefer to stay mainly on vegetation that is lower to the ground and that tends to grow around small ponds. They can be recognized by their raspy call: “Yek Yek Yek.” Leer más.

At the Cedar Creek Corrections Center in Littlerock, Washington, inmates are raising endangered Oregon spotted frogs for reintroduction into the wild. Compared with frogs raised in zoo programs, the frogs at Cedar Creek are significantly beefier and reach maturity faster. Maybe that’s because the prisoners, who are paid 42 cents per hour for their work, baby their tiny charges day and night. They monitor the water constantly and make sure that each frog gets plenty of crickets to eat. Leer más.

Los ecosistemas de agua dulce de la Unión Europea (UE) están gravemente amenazados y necesitan “medidas urgentes de conservación”, según un informe de la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza publicado recientemente. Leer más.

Con esta ampliación, Natura 2000 ocupa ahora cerca del 18 % de la superficie terrestre de la UE y más de 145.000 km2 de sus mares, “con lo que aumentará la protección de muchas especies en peligro”, según señala el Ejecutivo europeo en un comunicado de prensa. Leer más.