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Ernestine Corbett, Environmental Officer and Sarah-Louise Smith, Project Manager for the “Enabling Montserrat to save the critically endangered mountain chicken”, which is being funded by the Darwin Initiative

BRADES, Montserrat (GIU) -- “Montserrat is the only island in the Caribbean where you can still find the mountain chicken and they must be preserved or they will be extinct,” said environmentalist Sarah-Louise Smith.

Smith is the Project Manager of the “Enabling Montserrat to save the critically endangered mountain chicken,” which is being funded by the Darwin Initiative through the Department of Environment.

Following the arrival of the deadly chytrid fungus to Montserrat early last year, “Fifty frogs or mountain chickens as they are called were evacuated off island and flown to England and Sweden to enter a captive breeding programme,” explained Environmental Officer Ernestine Corbett.

Since then, Durrell Zoo in Jersey and Parken Zoo in Sweden have been very successful in breeding the founding population of mountain chickens, said a statement from the Environmental Department. Over 200 froglets were produced and are now ready to come back to Montserrat.

The Darwin Initiative, which also funded the Centre Hills project in 2005, has agreed to finance a three-year research programme to learn more about the mountain chicken and their ecology, and the effects of the fungus on these frogs.

Smith said the intention is to release some of the mountain chickens back into the wild in an attempt to learn more about the fungus and its interaction with the frogs. She said 14 potential release sites have been identified within the Centre Hills. Further evaluation of each location will be done before the frogs are returned to island and can be released.

The Department of Environment will be working in collaboration with Durrell and other organizations such as Zoological Society of London, Chester and Parken on the research project that they hope will “succeed in producing comprehensive research that may eventually aid other frogs affected by the fungus worldwide.”

A project steering committee has been established including defining representatives of all working backgrounds, who will represent Montserratians in the key decisions to be made regarding the frogs in the near future. This committee is due to meet shortly to decide the next steps of the groundbreaking project.

It is hoped that the first batch of mountain chicken froglets can be returned to island in January 2011.

Although the mountain chicken could also be found in Dominica, Smith explained that is hardly visible and will be shortly extinct there. Montserrat she explained is the only island in the region with a large enough population that can be preserved.

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John Witty:
Very intresting

Ms Thomas:
This is not accurate, the national dish of Dominica is mountain chicken and therefore Montserrat cannot be the only country where mountain chicken can still be found.

Sarah-Louise Smith:
Thank you for your comment, Ms Thomas. Mountain chickens are indeed also found in Dominica as stated at the end of this article. Unfortunately due to intensive hunting (to serve the frogs as the national dish) and the arrival of the chytrid fungus onto the island in 2002, the populations on Dominica have been decimated. Hopefully the work we intend to carry out in Montserrat will help us to aid any frogs surviving in Dominica in the future.

Ras Jahba:
I suspect these frogs returning to Montserrat are going to be GMed? I smell trouble here. More population control on your mind? ....."the arrival of the chytrid fungus onto the island in 2002......." that tells me someone brought it there and since when you people are so willing to help Africans?