Spread of invasive species in Canada costs billions, changes environment
VANCOUVER — For two decades experts have been carefully nursing a community of endangered northern leopard frogs in B.C.’s Kootenay region but invasive bullfrogs and fish threaten to muscle in, potentially swallowing years of work.
Purnimia Govindarajulu, a small mammal and herpetofauna specialist at B.C.’s Ministry of Environment, said disease and invasive fish already mean the endangered frogs aren’t thriving as they should be in a wetland in Creston.
More concerning to her is that a mass of bullfrog eggs was recently missed in a lake just 15 kilometres away, and Govindarajulu said teams in Canada and the United States are preparing to do battle with the voracious bullfrog to prevent its spread.
“We call it the American bullfrog action team,” she said, lowering her voice with mock authority.