Red-Legged Frog Tadpoles Explore Their New Home

This video provides background on and shows the release of California red-legged frog tadpoles into a pond in San Diego County, CA on March 31, 2021. These tadpoles originated from a pond in the Sierra San Pedro Martir Mountains in Baja California, Mexico and were translocated as eggs to the USA on Feb 4, 2021 as part of a multi-national conservation team consisting of TNC, USFWS, Fauno, SDNHM, and USGS. Once the egg masses arrive at Mesa Grande, they were placed in protective cages to allow for the eggs to hatch and the tadpoles to grow to a larger size. After almost 8 weeks in the cages, the tadpoles were released from their cages into the pond. As tadpoles are difficult to detect or monitor in a large pond, the scientists plan on revisiting the site in the late summer/fall of 2021 to evaluate the success by searching for newly metamorphosed frogs. Learn more about the project.