Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
When a group of Panamanian farmers told Smithsonian researchers that they had cool frogs on their property, they weren’t kidding! The farmers had discovered a new, healthy population of Colostethus pratti, also known as the Pratt’s rocket frog.
Scientists carefully relocated some of those frogs to another region of Panama, where the pratti had disappeared due to the deadly amphibian chytrid disease.
In June, Scientists placed 24 of the pratti into soft-release pens to help them acclimate to their new homes before releasing them into the wild. After just a few days, the frogs started breeding and laying eggs, signs that bode well for this species’ future in Panama!
The Tropical Amphibian Research Initiative is supported by the Bezos Earth fund and is a collaboration between the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project, Amphibian Survival Alliance, Arca Sapos. Centro Jambatu, Parque Explora, Proyecto Rana Arlequin, Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
When a group of Panamanian farmers told Smithsonian researchers that they had cool frogs on their property, they weren’t kidding! The farmers had discovered a new, healthy population of Colostethus pratti, also known as the Pratt’s rocket frog.
Scientists carefully relocated some of those frogs to another region of Panama, where the pratti had disappeared due to the deadly amphibian chytrid disease.
In June, Scientists placed 24 of the pratti into soft-release pens to help them acclimate to their new homes before releasing them into the wild. After just a few days, the frogs started breeding and laying eggs, signs that bode well for this species’ future in Panama!
The Tropical Amphibian Research Initiative is supported by the Bezos Earth fund and is a collaboration between the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project, Amphibian Survival Alliance, Arca Sapos. Centro Jambatu, Parque Explora, Proyecto Rana Arlequin, Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
