Species at Risk of Extinction in the Columbia Basin

Amphibians and Reptiles

Tiger salamander (image used with permission of the Royal British Columbia Museum).

These two groups, referred to colloquially as "herpetiles," from herpetology, are among our most endangered vertebrates. Of 18 species of amphibians in British Columbia, seven (39%) are red- or blue-listed. Reptiles fare worse: nine of 16 species (56%) are vulnerable or endangered. In the Columbia Basin, listed reptiles are the rubber boa, painted turtle, racer, western rattlesnake, and the deserticola subspecies of gopher snake (all blue-listed). Amphibians with this dubious status are the tiger salamander (red-listed; pictured above, right, and below, left), Great Basin spadefoot toad (blue), northern leopard frog (red), the Kootenay population of tailed frog (red), and the Coeur d'Alene salamander (red).

The Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program is funding two studies related to endangered amphibians and reptiles: a Northern Leopard Frog (Red-listed) status survey in the Creston Valey Wildlife Management Area, and Painted Turtle (Blue-listed) Projection Projects near Cranbrook and Revelstoke. A second Northern Leopard Frog project is being sponsored by Columbia Basin Trust near Invermere, Cranbrook and Golden.

Tiger salamander [get permission & photo credit from RBCM]

In the Northern Leopard Frog project at Creston, selected specimens have been radio-tagged to determine over-wintering habitat to be used in developing a recovery plan. This will include the production and distribution of a poster soliciting sightings reports, educational presentations in the communities, and the field surveys. The second Northern Leopard Frog Project will aim to locate populations of the Northern Leopard frog through surveys with community members in Cranbrook, Invermere and Golden. These projects will increase the knowledge of amphibians and their status in the Columbia Basin and it will collect information of the distribution of amphibians. More information on these studies can be found at the website of the Columbia Mountains Institute of Applied Ecology.

In the turtle protection projects, "Turtle x-ing" signs have been erected to warn motorists, and at Elizabeth Lake near Cranbrook, and turtle fence has been constructed to divert them from the roadway. Results have been mixed, and further protection efforts are continuing.

References

Cannings, S.G., D.F.Fraser, L.R.Ramsay, and M.Fraker,1999. Rare Amphibians, Reptiles and Mammals of British Columbia. Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, Victoria B.C.