Arizona fires: Rescued frogs find a refuge at Glendale Community College
An important species, resistant to Chytrid fungus.
About 50 endangered Chiricahua leopard frogs and 62 tadpoles are warming up to their new home at Glendale Community College after being rescued in the aftermath of the Monument Fire.
A community college may not seem like the first place wildlife officials would look to harbor frogs, but a bit of serendipity came into play, according to GCC spokesperson Joan Westlake.
THE REFUGE
GCC biologists began building a riparian refuge in 2003 as part of its new Life Sciences Building. They moved in boulders, created a waterfall and slowly introduced native algae into the glass-walled refuge. The Arizona Game and Fish Department had planned to move some Chiricahua leopard frogs from northern Arizona to the refuge, but then learned that the frogs of Beatty Ranch in Hereford might be in trouble.
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Arizona Game and Fish Department moved threatened Chiricahua leopard frogs from a pond at Beatty’s Guest Ranch in Miller Canyon, which was burned by the Monument Fire, to a recovery area in the Life Sciences Building at Glendale Community College.