The chorus frog, which makes real estate developers tremble, will try to settle in a pond built for it out of sight in Mont Saint-Bruno park.
In total, 732 tree frogs reared at the Montreal Biodome have been released in recent months. “We hope that they will reproduce there next spring and that they will set out to conquer this ecosystem from which they have completely disappeared,” explains Odile Colin, animal care technician at the Biodôme de Montréal.
The situation of this tiny frog who sits on a $ 2 coin is worrying. It has been on the list of endangered species since 2000. The reason: its habitat is constantly eroded by urban sprawl in southern Quebec.
Courtesy photo, Space for Life
A young frog ready to colonize Mont Saint-Bruno.
A $ 2 million tree frog
Even recently, a project of more than $ 2 million, aimed at the extension of Boulevard Béliveau, in Longueuil, was stopped by the Superior Court because of the risks caused to this species. This story reverberated as far as Glasgow, Scotland, where Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbault endorsed the frog.
The reintroduction of the species into the national park is a major challenge. Beginning in 2008, various captive breeding techniques were attempted; all have failed. A new approach, developed over the past year, has finally been successful, according to Colin.
The biologist orchestrated the reproduction of the small frogs, under the supervision of veterinarian Emiko Wong and Vance Trudeau, professor and holder of the research chair in neuroendocrinology at the University of Ottawa. In particular, hormonal treatments had to be used to stimulate egg laying.
Cautious optimism
About sixty adult tree frogs, the “parents” of these amphibians, will spend the winter at the Biodôme where they will be hibernated under close surveillance for a new breeding mission next year.
Cautious optimism has been expressed since 1,118 tree frogs were introduced into a pond in Saint-Constant, on the South Shore of Montreal. The species was completely extirpated from the region. For the first time, we heard them sing in the spring of 2021.