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From Washington to Panama: The Global Fight to Save Frogs

By: Sabri Ben-Achour // July 29, 2011
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Two red-eyed tree frogs in 'amplexus' -- the mating position. The smaller one is the male. These frogs are highly cute, but not not endangered.
Sabri Ben-Achour
Two red-eyed tree frogs in 'amplexus' -- the mating position. The smaller one is the male. These frogs are highly cute, but not not endangered.

It was the District's very own National Zoo that, a dozen years ago, first discovered what's been called the smallpox of the frog world: a fungus called Chytrid. First introduced from Africa, the fungus is working its way through the Americas, wiping out amphibians as it moves across vast stretches of territory. In part one of a two-part series, environment reporter Sabri Ben-Achour brings us the view from Panama: where the last uninfected frogs are close to extinction... and where, for others, it's already too late.

[Music: "Frog" by 8 Bit from The Number of the Bit]

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