Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

According to the Chinese horoscope, 2008 is the year of the rat. However, as far as the Association of Zoos and Aquaria is concerned, it’s the year of the frog.

That doesn’t appear on any zodiac calendars that you’ll look at. But it is a leap year. And so maybe it’s a good year for us to recognize what’s going on with amphibians around the world.

Lee Ann Linam coordinates the Texas Amphibian Watch program. According to a recent study, amphibian species are declining worldwide, with 122 species considered extinct.

And so, these zoos and aquaria are asking their bodies to get involved in terms of being ready to save some of these populations in zoos. And, we’re asking Texans to be involved by keeping an eye on what’s going on with amphibians around them, so that we’ll know if there are species that are in trouble, and if there are things that we should do to help before it gets to that point.

If you want to help amphibians, go to the zoo.

In this year of the frog, people might want to look at what their zoos are doing to create more awareness about amphibians. Many of them are actually fundraising so that a zoo can take on the captive breeding of some of these species that are about to disappear in the wild.

Help monitor the health of amphibians. Find out how at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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