Phil Bishop
University of Otago scientist Dr Phil Bishop has been
appointed to help lead an international forum which aims to
address the alarming decline in amphibians around the world.
A senior lecturer at the department of zoology, Dr Bishop had
a childhood fascination with frogs, which inspired a career
that has seen him appointed to help lead efforts to halt a
threatened extinction of amphibians.
Dr Bishop has been appointed by the International Union for
the Conservation of Nature as a chief scientist in the
fledgling Amphibian Survival Alliance (ASA)"The most
important thing for us to do to help amphibians is to
prioritise our list of projects and organise funding for
their protection," Dr Bishop said.
Amphibians were the "environmental sentinels" of nature and
the rapid rate of their worldwide decline signalled the
harmful effects being wrought on global habitats, he said.
A survey of amphibious species in 2004 showed at least 32% of
the more than 6000 amphibian species worldwide are threatened
with extinction.
These rates had been accelerated in recent years and studies
have also shown even frogs living in the middle of pristine
national parks were declining in numbers, Dr Bishop said.
The English-born scientist has been appointed to the ASA
alongside Dr Jaime Garcia-Moreno, of the Netherlands, who
will investigate potential breeding programmes with the
European Association of Zoos and Aquaria.
"Taking up the [ASA chief scientist] position is an exciting
yet sobering challenge," Dr Bishop said.
A former co-leader of the New Zealand Native Frog Recovery
Group, Dr Bishop is chairman of the Amphibian Specialist
Group working group for New Zealand.
He was also one of New Zealand's two frog ambassadors during
the Year of the Frog in 2008-09.
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