Articles for Houston zoo

Tue Jun 24, 6:02 AM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At least 11 species of African frogs carry a built-in concealed weapon -- they can sprout claws on demand to fight off attackers, U.S. researchers reported on Monday. When threatened, the frogs can puncture their own skin with sharp bones in their toes that they then use to claw their attackers, David Blackburn and colleagues at Harvard University reported. "It's surprising enough to find a frog with claws," Blackburn, a graduate... [More Info]

The first images that come to mind may be unassuming brown newts or garden-variety green frogs, but amphibians cover a much grander spectrum. Among about 6,000 species of frogs, salamanders and caecilians (legless animals, pronounced like "Sicilians") are some of the world's most bizarre animals: Giant Chinese salamanders, two meters (6 feet) in length; the "hairy frog" of Cameroon, which not only looks like it sports hair, but also can break its own... [More Info]

The amphibians get some love from environmental groups trying to protect them. By BRENNA MALONEY, Washington Post Last update: June 13, 2008 - 3:39 PM document.write(''); document.write(''); var partnerID=252491; var _hb=1; window.onerror=function(){clickURL=document.location.href;return true;} if(!self.clickURL) clickURL=parent.location.href; It's tough to be a frog these days -- or a toad, for that matter: 2008 has been named the Year of the Frog by a... [More Info]

Saturday, June 14, 2008 Royal Oak Students rally to save frogs They donate money to zoo's conservation center Shawn D. Lewis / The Detroit News ROYAL OAK -- Emily Joyce is fond of frogs and hopes to save them from extinction. Her seventh-grade class at Larson Middle School in Troy recently presented a $500 check to the Detroit Zoo's National Amphibian Conservation Center. "I really want to help save the frogs because they make the world a better place," said Emily, 13, of Troy. ... [More Info]

KNOXVILLE – There’s much to zoo at the Knoxville Zoo In honor of the Association of Zoos and Aquarium’s 2008 Year of the Frog, Knoxville Zoo has introduced “Toadally Frogs” as one of its newest exhibits. Visitors will have the opportunity to visit a chorus of croakers in this “ribbeting” exhibit. Also new at the zoo is Bloomin’ Butterfly Gardens, where visitors can immerse themselves in a flurry of butterflies floating around the exhibit. Other natural exhibits include The Boyd Family Red... [More Info]

Many kinds of frogs – including toads – face extinction BRENNA MALONEY; The Washington Post Published: June 10th, 2008 01:00 AM It’s tough to be a frog these days – or a toad, for that matter: 2008 has been named the Year of the Frog by a number of environmental groups to raise awareness of the worldwide plight of amphibians. What, you didn’t know they were in trouble? Between one-third and one-half of all amphibian species are threatened with extinction, the conservation group... [More Info]

The Budgett's frog had two fangs and screamed, so, of course, producers of the 30-second television spot touting the Frog Bog at the Newport Aquarium named it Psychofrog. "He tries to bite you," said Greg Newberry, president of O'Bryonville-based Animal Instinct Advertising, which has launched a multimedia advertising campaign for the Newport Aquarium. • Hear the frogs OAS_AD('ArticleFlex_1'); '); } // --> document.write(""); #smabe a:link{color:#ffffff;}#smabe... [More Info]

A new Cleveland Museum of Natural History exhibition takes a closer look at amphibians, the threat of extinction they face and the role of humans in both their decline and survival. The exhibition, "Toad-ily Frogs," will be on display in the museum's Corning Gallery through Sept. 28. Scientists have reported on the decline of amphibians for some time. But the situation is reaching crisis proportions - presently one-half to one-third of all amphibian species worldwide could become extinct... [More Info]

This Lincoln Park Zoo handout shows a tiny Solomon Island leaf froglet as it delicately perches on the fingertip of its animal keeper at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, Illinois on May 1, 2008. Hatched on February 16, this species is particularly unique as it hatches as a perfectly formed tiny frog rather than a tadpole. It is one of the few species of frogs in the world that do this. Native to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands this species is not yet endangered, however they do face many... [More Info]

By FRAN HENRY , Newhouse News Service Sunday, April 6, 2008 LoadRelated(); Neither - just clever timing by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which is staging the Year of the Frog. Association members have committed this year to stirring up interest in the plight of the world's amphibians - frogs, salamanders, newts, toads and caecilians, which look like worms or eels and live in tropical areas. Nearly one-third of the world's 6,000 species are in danger of... [More Info]

Frogs, salamanders and other amphibians are sliding into oblivion by Sara Shipley Hiles © Brad Wilson/Atlanta Botanical Garden (captive) In a cloud forest in Panama, hundreds of frogs turn up dead, the life sucked out of them by a strange fungus. In the wetlands of northwest Iowa, where hunters once collected 20 million frogs a year for their meaty legs, there is only one leopard frog left for every thousand frogs the pioneers saw. In southern Missouri's mountain... [More Info]

EL VALLE DE ANTON, Panama: The golden frog is a symbol of Panama — revered by indigenous cultures in the past and the lucky emblem on lottery tickets today. Now threatened by a lethal fungus that has killed other species, the national treasure may be facing life in captivity. A pair of biologists have decided that plucking the frogs from the cloud forests and putting them in quarantine is the only way to save them. Their goal is to eventually return the frogs to the wild, but these... [More Info]

Corwin and Biologists from the Houston Zoo Find Harlequin Frogs, Thought to be the Last of Their Kind, In Dense Rainforest of Panama - SILVER SPRING, Md., April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- While trekking through a remote rainforest in Omar Torrijos National Park in central Panama for the upcoming Animal Planet documentary THE VANISHING FROG, wildlife biologist Jeff Corwin, along with biologists Bill Konstant and Edgardo Griffith of the Houston Zoo, uncovered a small population of a critically... [More Info]

Ross Eastgate 18Apr08 HANDSOME, a 20-year-old tree frog gave photographer Aldwyn Altuney more than she bargained for at a media launch. HANDSOME, a 20-year-old tree frog gave photographer Aldwyn Altuney more than she bargained for at a media launch. Handsome is Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary's Year of the Frog ambassador and was appearing at the launch of Inkspot Printers' super new printing press. As soon as Aldwyn had taken her photo, Handsome leapt at her, the first time he had... [More Info]

By MARK DAVIS The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 04/10/08 MONTICELLO — The moon was just a sliver of silver in the immense indigo when the chorus started. It came from the shadows, where hardwoods are in bud. Eep! Eep! Eep-eep-eep!... Mark Davis / AJC staff (ENLARGE) Biologist Kristina Sorensen keeps track of the temperature outside Wednesday 4/9/08.... [More Info]

By Tyler Dunham Times & Transcript Staff Published Friday April 11th, 2008 Appeared on page B3 A new book by a local author will have dinosaur-crazed kids looking for their own gigantic reptilian pets. Paul Burns of Riverview will be launching his first children's book, Owen and the Dinosaur, at the Magnetic Hill Zoo on April 12. With each sale of the book, $1 will be given to the zoo's "Year of the Frog" project. "We wanted this launch to be about the story. The zoo seemed like... [More Info]

He's been dubbed Popeye the frog but would he have been more appropriately called Porky? Because it seems there's been at least one porky thrown about in the story that an Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog was found in a sealed bag of spinach at a Woolworths supermarket. Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary distributed a media alert this morning spruiking the amazing tale of survival of the little frog, saying a customer noticed the frog sealed inside the plastic bag when she was unpacking her groceries.... [More Info]

2008: The year of the frog var storytitle = "2008: The year of the frog"; Biologists seek to raise awareness of amphibian extinctions BY BOB BERWYN summit daily news Summit County, CO Colorado April 14, 2008 Comments Print Email SUMMIT COUNTY — The endangered boreal toad is filing getting its awareness campaign, as zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums around the world have designated 2008 as the year of the frog. As part of the global campaign to... [More Info]

GRAND RAPIDS — Frogs are in trouble. So are toads, salamanders and newts. To raise awareness of this crisis, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums has highlighted 2008 as the "Year of the Frog" and zoos and aquariums around the country have partnered in efforts to get the word out about the plight of amphibians. John Ball Zoo, along with several other zoos, have helped to save the toad from total extinction and even received an AZA Conservation Award for their role in the project . ... [More Info]