PARIS: Scientists say a fungus that has devastated global frog populations has reached Madagascar, putting the island’s 500 endemic frog species in danger.
The amphibian-rich islands of Madagascar, Borneo and New Guinea have remained conspicuously free of the Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) fungus, which has caused population crashes on every continent where amphibians occur.
But a Zoological Society of London (ZSL) team has discovered frogs carrying Bd in five areas in Madagascar between 2010 and 2014. In some places almost all frogs were infected. Their study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, indicates the fungus is now established and widespread on the island.
Scientists blame Bd, a chytrid fungus, for the decline or extinction of at least 200 species of frog. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has called it “the worst infectious disease ever recorded among vertebrates in terms of the number of species impacted, and its propensity to drive them to extinction”.
Study author Gonçalo Rosa said the strain of Bd had yet to be confirmed. It is possible that it is a form native to Madagascar and may not pose a threat to the local frogs. But some early tests suggest the presence of the global pandemic strain which can wipe out entire populations within a few years of arriving in an area.
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