It has been a while since I have updated the website and made an entry upon it, so here is me making up for it with my announcement that I will be embarking on my next trip to Madagascar, the island of marvels.
It has been an incredibly long time since I started to plan this epic adventure, with months of planning, excitement, nerves and reading (lots of reading). It will be a mixtuure of sleeping in a tent in the middle of a rainforest or on a beach, to staying in little villages and towns along the way.
Oh, I kind of forgot to actually say where abouts I shall be traveling, that would help a lot wouldn’t it… So my course of travel is, when I land at Antananarivo airport, to go straight out into the Perinet region and the town of Andasibe, remaining there for a few days and then to venture all the way North to Nosy Mangabe. We will then work our way back down to Andasibe via Toamasina/Tamatave, which doesnt sound like a long distance but, it really is.
It will truly be a Planes, Trains and Automobile journey, taking all forms of transportation including by boat also!
IF you want to keep up to date with my adventures then please don’t hesitate to like my Facebook Like Page – MantellaMan Conservation – to see my photograph and information updates!
Take care for now, wish me luck because I am gonna need it!
My first actual day (Excluding the travel day) into my trip to Madagascar whilst doing work at the Amphibian Survival Assurance Center of Andasibe (ASACA), a part of Association Mitsinjo.
After Work, I decided to go out into the reserve and see the wonders that are to be found in the forest, including Pygmy Leaf Chameleon (Brookesia superciliaris).
An interview with Joshua Ralph, Batrachologist and Conservationist with MantellaMan Conservation, an Amphibian Survival Alliance Partner.
Amphibians the world over are facing probably the world’s most serious extinction crisis. What are your thoughts on the future prospects for amphibian conservation and preventing further extinctions?
Personally, I find it isn’t entirely productive thinking of what is going to happen or what might happen and you can get lost in the depressing state these animals are in. Instead, looking at the now, the present is more productive… You can’t change the past (unless you’re Marty McFly), but you can change the future with what we do now and how quickly we act to slow down or hopefully, halt the extinctions of hundreds of species.
I won’t deny, I see it like wading through a swamp, every step you take can make you anxious and fill with dread, not knowing if your next step is going to make you sink lower or rise above it. But, if we all work together I think we can get through it, make changes and save some species before they are lost forever to the abyss that is, extinction.
What do you think are some of the most promising developments in the fight to prevent further amphibian population declines?
Some of the most promising? There are already so many developments in the world that deserve recognition and I think one great example is the Amphibian Survival Assurance Centre of Andasibe facility at Association Mitsinjo. This isn’t just because of the successful conservation breeding of some of the country’s most threatened species of Amphibia, but also for the changes they have made to some of the local towns folk in the region, most of which it has changed their lives entirely.
Some of the staff members at the facility have contributed, in the past, to the decline of certain species of Amphibia but now they are maintaining breeding colonies of threatened species at Association Mitsinjo, performing screenings for Chytridiomycosis in the local areas and most of all, showing others how important it is to maintain their country’s wildlife.
Another development that I think is highly promising, regarding the future of our planets Amphibia, is the increase of the public’s awareness of the demise of these fascinating and beautiful form of life. With social media, awareness events and even in educational curriculums people are becoming more and more aware not only of the risks these animals face, but also about some of the behaviours exhibited and the vast biological diversity that can be found which needs saving.
Why did you join the Amphibian Survival Alliance and what are you doing to help protect amphibians?
We joined the ASA to try and make a contribution to the hard work they are already performing and raise even more awareness regarding the demise Amphibian life across the globe with a particular focus on Madagascar, the “island of marvels” as I like to call it.
MMC is dedicated to trying to raise awareness in any way possible, from performing educational talks to writing informative blogs and sharing information. But it has also been created to perform work in situ, by offering help at facilities such as the one found in Andasibe with the husbandry and breeding of these threatened species or even performing research that could itself make a difference.
What can the average person, as well as the private sector, do in order to tangibly and actively participate in amphibian conservation?
Keep on raising awareness, by sharing information even you, yourselves have learnt about regarding these animals and with social media such as Facebook and Twitter, it isn’t exactly difficult to do so. It takes a mere click to share something or but a few moments to have a read into a certain topic.
It doesn’t matter who you are, what age you are, what religion you believe in, you can make a difference no matter how small you believe it to be by continuing to spread information to your family, friends, colleagues and so on.
Golden Mantella (Mantella aurantiaca), insitu at the Menalamba locality within the Torotorofotsy Wetlands Reserve, eastern Madagascar.
One of the more famous localities for the species, Menalamba (Meaning “Red Cloth” in Malagasy) is a popular eco-tourist spot for Herpetologists and even Bird Watchers.
Only a few days into my trip to Madagascar whilst doing work at the Amphibian Survival Assurance Center of Andasibe (ASACA), a part of Association Mitsinjo, I decided to try and find a species of Amphibian that started my entire lifes work and passion from a young age, the Golden Mantella.
Over the course of our planets history, thousands upon thousands of species of Fauna and Flora has both flourished and blossomed into marvelous species that can be found today, or they have disappeared off the face of earth, either naturally over the course of time or faced severe threats caused by none other than our very own species.
Homo sapiens throughout its existence, has caused the direct or indirect decline and eventual extinction of hundreds of species and in the past 500 years alone, the number of extinct species was estimated at approximately 869 (IUCN Red List – 2007).
Even today, there are still extinctions occurring and currently, there is an estimated figure of 47,978 species of Fauna and Flora listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. However, even though the everyday ordinary people in the world are aware of the countless projects to save the Clouded Leopard or the Giant Panda, people rarely know or have even heard of the species of Amphibian that are endemic to the island of Madagascar, or even realise the country itself is real or is home to the vast diversity of wildlife. So I think, it would be best to start this article by writing about the island of marvels itself.
Madagascar – In a Nutshell.
Measuring a grand total of 592,800 square kilometres (228,900 sq miles), it is the fourth largest island on the planet.
Around 88 million years ago, when the prehistoric supercontinent known as Gondwana or Gondwanaland began to separate its land mass into pieces, a small chunk of land measuring 228,900 square miles started to move away from mainland India, this of course is Madagascar. In modern times, it is believed to be one of the largest and oldest islands on earth, and has had more than enough time to create both an amazing array of beautiful landscapes. Being split partly in two by a vast spine of mountains which runs the islands entire length, this has created a unique range of habitats with the Eastern and Northern parts being mainly Lush Rainforests and Swamps, to the Western and Southern lands being a mixture of arid woodland/forests and parched deserts.
With this drastic combination of extended island isolation and varied landscape, it as created some eccentric wildlife, 90% of which can be found no where else in the world, and of this number over 300 species of Amphibia (99.5% of which) are also solely endemic, however more are still awaiting appropriate description and even discovery out of all the species of Amphibia found on Madagascar, 99.5% of them are completely endemic. According to R. G. B. Perl and other researchers, in the article titled “DNA Bar-coding Madagascar’s Amphibian Fauna”, it is listed that just over 500 species are to be found within their country of origin, but it is believed that Madagascar actually hosts a greater amount than above said quantity, by approximately 200 species.
However, the island is facing severe problems caused by Human Activity, with serious declines in its naturally occurring habitats. It is believed, since the first settling Humans arrived 1500 years ago, the habitats have declined by approximately 90% or more leaving little condensed pockets of National Parks scattered throughout the island and what is even more concerning, is that 40% of the above percentage has in fact occurred in the past 60 years alone. Because of this increased exposure to previously remote landscapes, there are new risks that the beautifully diverse wildlife faces. With risks from highly invasive species such as the Asian Common Toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) and the deadly fungal infection, Chytridiomycosis (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis), which has already caused the major decline in most the worlds Amphibian species, these unique species are in dire need.
Habitat-loss – Disappearing Refuges
Across most of the Eastern Coast of Madagascar, a technique of agriculture has been in
practice for many, many years causing a drastic decline in the Mantella natural habitats; this method is known as “Tavy” or more commonly as Slash-and-Burn Cultivation. This involves Trees and smaller brush and bushes to be cut down and left to dry out over the course of the winter period when precipitation is at an all time low, and eventually being burnt just before the first Rains arrive. This is mainly to allow the cultivation of Rice or Corn Crops within the regions felled and after only a few years of growing the crops, the people will move on and seek another area to cultivate whilst the previous area is left to fallow.
Due to the incredibly damage this method of Agriculture causes, such as Soil Erosion and destruction of a vast amount of Vegetation, this practice was in fact made illegal, in an attempt to slow the decline of Rainforest within these regions but is still practiced by local peoples to this day. This is mainly because of the lack of realisation and knowledge of the issues that are becoming more and more apparent making the education of locals, a primary aim for a majority of Conservation Organisations.
However, this is not the only cause of Habitat destruction, simple mining and logging has definitely played a major role in the disappearance of major and vital biotopes which has severely fragmented certain Mantella populations. A prime example of such is the amazing but unusual locality variations of the Yellow Mantella (Mantella crocea) which exhibits a completely different colouration from its common name, that is in fact Green. This colouration an be found at Ambohitantely Reserve, the Eastern-central region of the island and also at the Zahamena National Park which is in a North-eastern direction from Ambohitantely, making it roughly 188km (116 miles) apart. This goes to show that the habitat loss is far from small, with locality populations being already drastically fragmented from each other.
Chytridiomycosis – The Amphib Killer.
Chytridiomycosis (or commonly known as Chytrid Fungus) is an emerging infectious disease to the class of Amphibians, caused by the aquatic fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). There are numerous Chytrid fungi members that can be found within the class of Chytridiomycetes. A lot of Chytrids are what is known as Saprophytes, fungi living on the dead decaying organic matter, arguably making one of their most important ecological functions, decomposition. However Bd, is very unique in comparison to other Chytrids.
Having been first described in 1999, this new species was found to infect (with much success) Amphibian species. What makes this even more unusual, is the fact it is the only Chytrid to parasitically attack a vertebrate species and furthermore, specifically only Amphibians. It is often highly contagious and infection predominately occurs inside the cells of the outer skin layers that contain large amounts of keratin. As you may be aware, Keratin is what hair, feathers and claws are made of and helps by making the outside of the skin tough and more resistant to injury. The biggest trait that Amphibians predominately have is a Permeable skin, which is highly important for Gaseous exchange that can take place with some of the class it also helps with the absorption of important salts (electrolytes) like sodium and potassium through the skin. Chytridiomycosis, changes that entirely, forcing the skin to become thicker due to Microscopic changes that are known as “hyperplasia and hyperkeratosis”. Abnormal electrolyte levels as the result of Bd – damage the skin causing the heart to literally stop beating and obviously killing the infected animal (Voyles et al., 2009 and in other species that are entirely dependent on their skin to breathe such as Lungless Salamanders, it causes suffocation.
Both fortunately and unfortunately, not all Amphibians die from this fungal infection, with some species being “resistant” to the adverse effects and instead becoming carriers. These species in particular, such as the African Clawed Frog (Xenopus laevis), are of major concern to all Amphibians susceptible to the fungus Zoospores, due to being able to spread the infection further and cause further damage to other populations and of course cause extinction. In approximately only 30 years, Bd has caused the catastrophic decline or extinction (in many cases within a single year) of at least 200 species of frogs, even in pristine, remote habitats (Skerratt et al. 2007) some of them iconic such as the Australian Gastro-brooding Frogs (Rheobatrachus) and the neotropical Golden Toad (Incilius periglenes).
Conservation Efforts & Association Mitsinjo.
In Madagascar, some organisations are already well established, executing projects with already incredible results for the species in question. One of these organisations is Association Mitsinjo, a community-run conservation project which is situated in and around the small village of Andasibe, located within Eastern-central Madagascar. In is abundant is a vast amount of Anura, with approximately 100 species within a 30km radius of the town, 6 of these species are part of the incredibly beautiful Mantella genus.
As part of the Mitsinjo Amphibian Conservation Programme and Andasibe National Park, a breeding center (the Amphibian Survival Assurance Center of Andasibe) was constructed between the month of November 2010 to March 2011 to allow the captive breeding of certain species to be controlled and the successes to be monitored properly and information recorded for both behaviour and husbandry research. The facility itself is incredibly impressive measuring 185 square meters containing within it, completely bio secure rooms for various captive frog species, live food culturing, Research and even quarantine and isolation facilities, to prevent any potential risks to the already captive populations at Mitsinjo.
Conservation however, doesn’t necessarily have to involve breeding animals, it can also involve the simplest gesture, that is raising awareness and even in some case providing education. The Mitsinjo facility also includes an Educational Center which both foreign tourists and locals can visit to learn more about the work performed at the facility, the species found within the Andasibe Reserve and finally threats that affect all wildlife within the Nature Reserve.
Raising awareness for these small and fascinating frogs has even involved Mascots and Festivals dedicated to them, which tends to take place annually at a small village of Ampahitra. Last year, on the 25th of May the Mangabe Festival took place to raise awareness of the Golden Mantella (Mantella aurantiaca) at the protected site of Ranomena-Sahasarotra and has proved to be a successful attempt of trying to get the local communities around the reserve to engage and contribute towards both the habitats and the species that dwell in them. In this instance the Community organizations involved were rewarded for the efforts they carried out for the conservation of Mangabe’s forests from April 2012 to March 2013. This did include regular monitoring of the Golden Mantella breeding areas, the reporting illegal activities to the relevant authorities and even restoring areas degraded by slash-and-burn agriculture or gold mining.
Within this photograph blog entry, I will be in the Torotorofotsy Wetlands Reserve, located north of the town of Andasibe.
Continuing the day that I encountered one of Madagascar’s most iconic species of frog, the Golden Mantella (Mantella aurantiaca), my guide Fanoo and I decided to travel slightly further north to a different part of the Torotorofotsy. Bakozetra is like I said, lies in the northern most parts of the Torotorofotsy and west of the Mantadia National Park and is incredibly well known for its particular locality of Yellow Mantella (Mantella crocea) which exhibit Red flash marks (Markings situated upon the hind legs as warning markings, one of the methods of Aposematism).
Within this photograph blog entry, I will be in the Torotorofotsy Wetlands Reserve, located north of the torn of Andasibe.
Being one of my first days in Madagascar and with the breeding season of a few species I so desperately wanted to see nearly over, Devin Edmonds (Director of the ASACA facility in Andasibe) and myself made an attempted to find a species that pretty much kicked started our passion at such a young age for us both. This was of course Madagascar’s most iconic species of Amphibian, the critically endangered Golden Mantella (Mantella aurantiaca).
A day I will remember for the rest of my lifetime!
If you didnt know already, I have approximately 15 years experience keeping and breeding species of Amphibia, with a speciality within the genus of Mantella frogs from Madagascar. So, below you will find a care guide to how I keep and breed the said species.
Author:Joshua S. Ralph. Establishment/Organisation:MantellaMan Conservation.
Common name:Golden Mantella (Malagasy Golden Mantella, Madagascan Golden Frog, Golden Frog, Orange Mantella, Red Mantella) Scientific name:Mantella aurantiaca – Mocquard, 1900. Family:Mantellidae Country of Origin:Madagascar. Localities: North and South of the Moramanga region, at the Torotorofotsy Wetland Reserve (c. 7km north-west of Andasibe); Andromena Forest at the Samarirana River.
If you didnt know already, I have approximately 15 years experience keeping and breeding species of Amphibia, with a speciality within the genus of Mantella frogs from Madagascar. So, below you will find a care guide to how I keep and breed the said species.
Author: Joshua S. Ralph. Establishment/Organisation:MantellaMan Conservation.
Common name:Yellow Mantella (Eastern Golden Frog, Eastern Mantella) Scientific name:Mantella crocea – Pintak & Böhme, 1990 Family:Mantellidae Country of Origin: Madagascar. Localities: Bakozetra west of Parc National de Mantadia; Ifoha west of Parc National de Mantadia; a forest area east of Ambohimanarivo; and outside the Réserve Naturelle Intégrale de Zahamena.
Some of you that are now reading this blog entry may know me already, but from those of you that don’t or haven’t read my ‘About Me’ section on my website, then please allow me to introduce my self, my name is Joshua Ralph and I am a Batrachologist, Conservationist and Zoo Keeper. Now, some of you that aren’t really familar to animal terminology my be wondering what on earth a ‘Batrachologist’ is, well it is a person who specialises in the study of Amphibia (Frogs, Toads, Newts, Salamanders and Caecillians) within the specific field of zoology.
I have always loved working with and keeping Amphibian species, and it is my upmost passion and a path I have chosen to work within since before the age of seven years old. As generalised as I try to be, I am incredibly biased towards the species found upon a very biologically important and completely unique island, this of course is Madagascar. For those of you that aren’t entirely aware of the island or infact knew it was a real place, let me give you some information regarding it.
MADAGASCAR IN AN OVERFLOWING NUTSHELL.
Measuring a grand total of 592,800 square kilometres (or 228,900 sq miles for those of you that prefer to use this form of measurement), it is recorded as the fourth largest island on the planet and with this quantity of land along with total island isolation, the wildlife upon it have had all this time to evolve into the life you can find today. Most of which are entirely endemic, as a matter of fact over 90% of all life on Madagascar can only be found upon it. Regarding Amphibia, currently there is thought to be roughly 300 species accounted for that have been described, however more are still awaiting appropriate description and even discovery out of all the species of Amphibia found on Madagascar, 99.5% of them are completely endemic. According to R. G. B. Perl and other researchers, in the article titled “DNA Barcoding Madagascar’s Amphibian Fauna”, it is listed that just over 500 species are to be found within their country of origin, but it is believed to inhabit a greater amount than above said quantity, by approximately 200 species.
Measuring a grand total of 592,800 square kilometres (228,900 sq miles), it is the fourth largest island on the planet.
These amazing animals, are currently in trouble (as is the case for a majority of life upon the island) with risks from highly invasive species such as the Asian Common Toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) and the deadly fungal infection, Chytridiomycosis (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) a fungal disease that has caused the extinction of many species across the planet already!!
CHYTRIDIOMYCOSIS – THE LETHAL AMPHIB KILLER.
Chytridiomycosis (or commonly known as Chytrid Fungus) is an emerging infectious disease to the class of Amphibians, caused by the aquatic fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). There are numerous Chytrid fungi members that can be found within the class of Chytridiomycetes. A lot of Chytrids are are what is known as Saprophytes, fungi living on the dead decaying organic matter, arguably making one of their most important ecological functions, decomposition. However Bd, is very unique in comparision to other Chytrids.
Having been first described in 1999, this new species was found to infect (with much success) Amphibian species. What makes this even more unusual, is the fact it is the only Chytrid to parasictically attack a vertebrate species and further more, specically only Amphibians. It is often highly contagious and infection predominately occurs inside the cells of the outer skin layers that contain large amounts of keratin. As you may be aware, Keratin is what hair, feathers and claws are made of and helps by making the outside of the skin tough and more resistant to injury. The biggest trait that Amphibians predominately have is a Permeable skin, which is highly important for Gaseous exchange that can take place with some of the class it also helps with the absorbtion of important salts (electrolytes) like sodium and potassium through the skin. Chytridiomycosis, changes that entirely, forcing the skin to become thicker due to Microscopic changes that are known as “hyperplasia and hyperkeratosis”. Abnormal electrolyte levels as the result of Bd-damage the skin causing the heart to literally stop beating and obviously killing the infected animal (Voyles et al., 2009 and in other species that are entirely dependant on their skin to breathe such as Lungless Salamanders, it causes suffocation.
Both fortunately and unfortunately, not all Amphibians die from this fungal infection, with some species being “resistant” to the adverse effects and instead becoming carriers. These species in particular, such as the African Clawed Frog (Xenopus laevis), are of major concern to all Amphibians susceptible to the fungus Zoospores, due to being able to spread the infection further and cause further damage to other populations and of course cause extinction. In approximately only 30 years, Bd has caused the catastrophic decline or extinction (in many cases within a single year) of at least 200 species of frogs, even in pristine, remote habitats (Skerratt et al. 2007) some of them iconic such as the Australian Gastro-brooding Frogs (Rheobatrachus) and the neotropical Golden Toad (Incilius periglenes).
I wish to raise money for my associate partner, the Amphibian Survival Alliance (Amphibians.org) and their projects to eliminate the threats that Madagascar’s amphibians are facing, by doing something unusual and difficult.
THE PILGRIM’S WAY (UK)- WINCHESTER TO CANTERBURY SPONSORED WALK. As a side hobby, on the weekends I re-enact 12th century Norman England with one of the UK’s premiere 12th century re-enactment societies, where I perform in unscripted and realistic combat displays. As a result, I own a lot of Norman period warriors attire, from real Maille (Chainmail as you may incorrectly know it), steel Helmets, heavy duty shields to even weaponry.
I wanted to do something a bit different to Skydiving or Bungee Jumping, and I finally decided that I will do a certain walk known as the Pilgrim’s Way, a 119+ mile pilgrimage route from Winchester (Hampshire, UK) to Canterbury (Kent, UK), a journey taking 12-14 days in total. However, I am not just doing a walk, oh no, its far more interesting than that! I plan to do this wearing the full attire of a 12th century Norman warrior, head to toe clad in armour and clothing authentic to the period. (I will weigh all my clothing and equipment I will take I know what you are more than likely saying, “This has nothing to do with animals.” and “What does this have to do with Amphibians?” And my answer to that is, well, it doesn’t have to have anything to do with my passion and the conservation efforts currently taking place in Madagascar. Also, my own reasons for doing this walk has NOTHING to do with relgion, it is just something that I thought would be both challenging and interesting.
Anyway, I shall be posting again shortly and creating a section on my website that will be dedicated to my Fundraising event so please do share this page for now on Facebook, Twitter etc so we can all make a difference and save the Amphibians of Madagascar whilst we still can…
Thank you for reading,
Joshua Ralph
(MantellaMan)
Raising awareness of conservation efforts and issues in Madagascar.