Ready

A big thank you to Joel Sartore, a National Geographic Photographer, for allowing me to use this image, which he posted on Instagram.  As soon as I saw it I knew I just had to paint it.

 

This is a pink-sided leaf frog (Agalychnis Litodryas) collected near Pilalo, Ecuador.

Joel went to Ecuador to photograph amphibians, primarily frogs back in 2008. Amphibian species are declining especially rapidly due to a host of issues from chytrid fungus to habitat loss and pollution.

The numbers vary, but it is estimated that we could lose up to 50% of amphibians by the turn of the century.

 

While it doesn’t look great, there is good news: Scientist have had some success and are studying frogs with a natural immunity to chytrid fungus in an effort to stem the decline, meanwhile zoos and aquariums are captive breeding a whole host of frog species and other amphibians to repopulate decimated areas. www.joelsartore.com  READ MORE IN THE eBOOK....