Frog in a Water Drop

Herberstein Wildlife Park features several natural ponds and pools. It’s well known that these bodies of water are home to frogs, toads, newts, and salamanders—the chorus of frogs is impossible to miss in the summer. The fences around the animal enclosures do not pose a major obstacle for these small amphibians as they make their way to their spawning grounds. Nor do the presence of cheetahs, coatis, and other animals seem to faze them much.

Now we want to know exactly: By analyzing water samples, we can determine which species of amphibians are present in a body of water. It’s like “CSI: Frog”—forensic genetics on frogs… except the frogs aren’t the culprits. Rather, they are victims of land use, drainage, soil sealing, pesticides, and global warming. To make matters worse, there is an amphibian fungus that has triggered mass extinction among amphibians worldwide. This fungal disease can also be detected through DNA analysis of the water samples.

The laboratory analysis relies on what is known as environmental DNA (eDNA). This is because small amounts of eDNA—that is, animal cells shed through the mucous membranes or feces, among other ways—are present in the pond water.

We collected water samples at the Tiergarten from the ponds near the coati, Liszt's macaques, red pandas, and cheetahs, and sent them to the University of Innsbruck. Now we're eagerly awaiting the results of the lab tests. We're hoping to find plenty of frogs in the water samples.