FROGS: THE THIN GREEN LINE

FROGS: THE THIN GREEN LINE (USA, 2009, 57 min.)

Frogs have been living on this planet for more than 360 million years and, over the centuries, evolved into some of the most wondrous and diverse creatures on earth. Today, however, all their remarkable adaptations and survival tactics are failing them. Recent discoveries are startling: more than a third of all amphibians – most of which are frogs and toads – have already been lost and more are disappearing every day. It is an environmental crisis unfolding around the globe. Traveling from Australia to North and South America, where the calls of frogs once filled the air, scientists now hear only silence. Ecosystems are beginning to unravel and the potential to discover important medical cures may be lost forever. Habitat loss, pollution and a human population that has doubled in the past 50 years have set the stage for their diminished numbers. But now, a fungus called chytrid has been identified as the major culprit, and so far the spread of the fungus can’t be stopped. Written, produced and directed by Allison Argo.

Discussion with filmmaker Allison Argo; Dr. Brian Gratwicke, lead National Zoo scientist for the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project; and Karen Lips, Director of the Program on Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology, University of Maryland, follows screening.

Cash Bar Reception precedes screening.

Ticket/Reservation Info:

FREE. Registration required. Please register online at http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ActivitiesAndEvents/Lectures/rsvp.cfm.

Smithsonian National Zoological Park, Visitors Center, 3001 Connecticut Ave., NW
Free parking: Connecticut Ave. entrance, Lot A.
(METRO: Woodley Park)