Northern leopard frogs will eat just about anything they can fit in their mouths. They sit still and wait for prey to happen by, then pounce with their powerful legs.
A Native Amphibian In Decline
In the western United States, where amphibians depend on ever-dwindling wetland habitat, 100% of the known frog species are declining. The northern leopard frog’s habitat has been destroyed and degraded, poisoned, polluted, and drastically altered, leading to population declines across its range and a grisly toll of deformities showing up in most frog populations. The major causes of the frog’s decline include water pollution, disease, climate change and habitat loss and degradation.
Natural History
Northern leopard frogs are so named for the array of irregularly shaped dark spots that adorn their backs and legs. They are greenish-brown in color with a pearly white underside and light-colored ridges on either side of their backs. Considered medium-sized, they reach lengths of 3 to 5 inches. Females tend to be slightly larger than males. Northern leopard frogs eat beetles, ants, flies, worms, smaller frogs (including their own species), and even birds and garter snakes. Their range covers most of northern North America, except the Pacific Coast. Typical habitats include wet meadows and the banks and shallows of marshes, ponds, glacial kettle ponds, beaver ponds, lakes, reservoirs, streams and irrigation ditches.
Conservation Status
-Colorado Division of Wildlife Species of Concern
-Forest Service Sensitive Species
-BLM Sensitive Species in Colorado
-New Mexico Species of Greatest Conservation Need
Action Taken
Center for Native Ecosystems joined Biodiversity Conservaton Alliance and many other conservation partners in calling on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the western U.S. distinct population of the northern leopard frog as a threatened species. The petition was submitted in June of 2006. In the meantime, we work to stem threats to the frog’s population.
Read More
Service Announces Protection May Be Warranted for Western Leopard Frog
Petition to List Western Leopard Frog as Threatened or Endangered
Minnesota Case Study
Nevada Case Study
The northern leopard frog is threatened by a variety of sources of habitat degradation. Image by Jeremy Nichols.
Northern leopard frogs, like many other amphibian species, are suffering from a rash of severe deformities.
Deformed northern leopard frog with three legs. Photo (c) Pieter Johnson.
