Nearly 500 Rare Frogs Were Released Into a Mississippi Habitat

In June, conservation partners released nearly 500 federally endangered dusky gopher frogs into ponds on a private property called Woodland Cottage in Hancock County, Mississippi.

The release created the only known population of the species in Hancock County and was the first release on private working lands.

These frogs depend on longleaf pine habitat shaped by regular fire. Habitat loss, fragmentation, and changing land use once pushed them close to disappearing across nearly all of their range.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, Memphis Zoo, Wildlife Mississippi, and the property owners worked together on the effort.

Private land can be an important part of recovery when people choose to make room for native habitats. The new ponds give the frogs a chance to grow alongside the wider landscape.