Dominica’s Critically Endangered "Mountain Chicken" Under Pressure for Survival

ROSEAU, Dominica – Dominicans may be without their national dish for a ”very long time” as the authorities here warn of the chytrid fungus continuing to have an impact on the mountain chicken,  a species of giant frog native to the area.

Dominica’s Giant Ditch Frog, also known as mountain chicken. (Image via Zoological Society of London)Wildlife ecologist at the Forestry Department, Janelle Brisbane, speaking on a radio program hosted by the Ministry of the Environment, said the mountain chicken |is definitely going to be off the table for while” and that the fungal disease, which is soil borne “is here to stay in Dominica,” after first  being detected in 2002.

“It is in the soil…it is very difficult to get rid off and for some reason our frogs in Dominica have been coping with it. But, for the most part, most of the frogs actually died from it,” she said noting that within a one-year period between 2002-3, “we lost over 85 percent of our frogs.

“It has been a downhill battle since. But 20 years later through the conservation efforts of the Forestry Division, and regional, international partners we have actually managed to keep the frog alive. We have managed to sustain a population, we (want) people to understand and respect the mountain chicken for the national, cultural ecological symbol that it is.

“It is going to be a very long time before we could even consider eating the mountain chicken again,” Brisbane added.

The mountain chicken frog, which supposedly tastes like chicken, is classified as critically endangered. This means that they face an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild due to a drastic population decline as a result of hunting by people, volcanic activity and the arrival of the chytrid fungus.