Rescuing the mountain chicken: 06/04/09

Tomorrow is the big day – the frogs will be leaving Montserrat for their journey across the Atlantic to the UK and Jersey. Exporting animals is not as easy as just putting them in a box and boarding them on a plane – there is a huge amount of paperwork and with three flights involved getting them from Montserrat to Jersey and London, it is important that everything is exactly correct or there could be hold ups which could be very dangerous for the frogs.

We therefore spent a morning trailing from the Forestry Department to the Vet Department and then to the Montserrat Government offices in an attempt to finalise, print and fax the required documentation.

However no one there had a colour printer that was working and we urgently needed to print the various documents and labels for the boxes. Fortunately we managed to find a printing business close to the transit facility and while Gerardo and I topped up the leaf litter for the frogs and sprayed them to increase the humidity, Javier managed to get the labels printed for the boxes – in colour!

The frogs all then had to receive their daily antifungal treatment bath but with extra help from Montserrat Vet Nicholas, this became an efficient operation. Fortunately the water supply is working again as all the water ponds needed to be washed out and refilled.

It was another trip to Pelican in the evening for Javier, guided by Blacka as always. All recaptures received their treatment baths where necessary and two new animals were also found. However this is not really good news – it just means that they have not yet come into contact with chytrid – it’s just a matter of time for them.

Meanwhile Gerardo and Wendy stayed in the transit facility to work on the export boxes for tomorrow when the first consignment of frogs will leave Montserrat. We spent the time cutting and fixing more polystyrene for the lids and sides of the boxes and marking holes for drilling the air holes. These all have to be the correct legal size and position as required for transporting animals. Obviously their welfare on the long journey ahead is vitally important and we have to make sure they are as comfortable and relaxed as possible. The process of finishing these boxes and getting them ready for tomorrow’s shipment looked like it was never going to get finished. There is always one more thing to do or one more thing to double check.

On the other side of the world, Matt Goetz and the rest of the Herpetological Department of Durrell continued working very hard to get the facilities ready for the arrival of 12 frogs. In Jersey we have to build a new biosecure facility from scratch, but we had no time to do this before frogs would start arriving. Therefore a short term solution was needed. The next best solution was to convert the existing mountain chicken room. But first we had to find a home for the 22 juvenile mountain chickens living in it. A big thank you goes out to Parken Zoo in Sweden which immediately agreed to take all 22 frogs from us, which meant that we could immediately focus on changing the room around.

Check out the changes here.

After exporting the frogs, the room was emptied, cleaned and disinfected. All the drains and other openings like vents and windows were sealed or covered and rectangular swimming pools with pond netting for walls were chosen as a relatively cheap and quick option for easily cleanable enclosures. Those pools needed elevating from the floor to be able to have the buckets underneath in which the waste water is disinfected before draining into the mains. For this purpose, a metal framework structure was set up as a platform for the actual enclosures. This was necessary as for a biosecure quarantine facility, all waste water needs disinfecting before it can go into the main drainage to prevent a possible spreading of chytrid into the Jersey water system. In the corridor outside the room, a small waterproofed entrance room was built where staff changes from their work uniforms into overalls and where footbaths are in place so that the room is completely separated from the rest of our department.

They're not the only one with short nights, Ian Stephen and his team at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) are working just as hard for the arrival of the other 12 frogs in a couple of days.