Nearly 500 dusky gopher frogs released on Mississippi land
The release follows a 20-year habitat restoration project led by Jim and Laura Currie to support endangered species.
Nearly 500 captive-bred dusky gopher frogs were released into ponds at Woodland Cottage in Hancock County, Mississippi, in June 2026, according to a Times of India report.
The release, which took place on the privately owned property of Jim and Laura Currie, aimed to protect the rare amphibian. The dusky gopher frog is listed as Endangered under the US Endangered Species Act and Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
The frogs were bred in captivity by the Memphis Zoo before being introduced to the restored land. This initiative involved a collaboration between the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, Wildlife Mississippi, and the Curries.
For more than 20 years, the Curries worked with various organisations, including the US Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service, to restore the longleaf pine ecosystem. Their work involved replanting pines and using controlled burns to maintain diverse vegetation.
The dusky gopher frog relies on gopher tortoise burrows for shelter and temporary wetlands for breeding. The USFWS stated that the release is a milestone in a larger recovery effort involving habitat restoration and captive breeding.
Continued monitoring will be required to determine if the frogs can survive, reproduce, and establish a population in the area.