Support for LAist comes from
Become a sponsor
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Donate
Stay Connected

LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio, a member-supported public media network.

Audience-funded nonprofit news
Listen
Donate
Podcasts Take Two
Threatened red-legged frogs return to the Santa Monica Mountains
solid orange rectangular banner
()
Take Two Logo
Jul 25, 2014
Listen • 5:32
Threatened red-legged frogs return to the Santa Monica Mountains
Roughly 850 tadpoles, hatched from red-legged frog eggs, were released into the Santa Monica Mountains on Tuesday, marking the first time the threatened species has been reintroduced into the area after a decades-long absence.
Katy Delaney, a wildlife ecologist with the National Parks Service, feeds red-legged frog tadpoles in an undisclosed location in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Katy Delaney, a wildlife ecologist with the National Parks Service, feeds red-legged frog tadpoles in an undisclosed location in the Santa Monica Mountains.
(
Jed Kim/KPCC
)
Biologist Mark Mendelsohn lowers a tupperware filled with about 20 red-legged frog tadpoles into a pond in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Biologist Mark Mendelsohn lowers a tupperware filled with about 20 red-legged frog tadpoles into a pond in the Santa Monica Mountains.
(
Maya Sugarman/KPCC
)
Wildlife Interns Jordyn Mulder, left, and Lindsey Gordon and Wildlife Ecologist Katy Delaney pose for a picture with the tadpoles they raised.
Wildlife Interns Jordyn Mulder, left, and Lindsey Gordon and Wildlife Ecologist Katy Delaney pose for a picture with the tadpoles they raised.
(
Maya Sugarman/KPCC
)
Katy Delaney, a wildlife ecologist with the National Parks Service, peers into a tadpole cage while preparing for a release. The tadpoles grew up in cages protected from predators.
Katy Delaney, a wildlife ecologist with the National Parks Service, peers into a tadpole cage while preparing for a release. The tadpoles grew up in cages protected from predators.
(
Maya Sugarman/KPCC
)

Roughly 850 tadpoles, hatched from red-legged frog eggs, were released into the Santa Monica Mountains on Tuesday, marking the first time the threatened species has been reintroduced into the area after a decades-long absence.

Roughly 850 tadpoles, hatched from red-legged frog eggs, were released into the Santa Monica Mountains on Tuesday, marking the first time the threatened species has been reintroduced into the area after a decades-long absence. 

“It’s very exciting. There haven’t been red-legged frogs here for at least 45 years, and they’re free here now," said Katy Delaney, a wildlife ecologist with the National Park Service who leads the project. 

The three-year-long project is a joint effort among several groups, including the National Park Service, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, the U.S.Geological Survey, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission.  

Southern California Public Radio's Jed Kim reports.