American Bullfrog – Surveys and Monitoring
In 2015, SSISC received a report that American Bullfrogs had been heard calling in the Nexen Beach area of the Squamish Estuary. American Bullfrogs are from the eastern part of North America, but are incredibly invasive in the West, outcompeting and sometimes predating on native amphibians and their eggs. This was the first and only report of bullfrogs in the Sea to Sky region.
Thanks to funding from the Community Foundation of Whistler, SSISC was able to embark on a Bullfrog surveillance monitoring program and carry out visual and call surveys at 7 sites around in Squamish in 2016 with the aim of detecting any bullfrogs present. SSISC continued its bullfrog surveillance efforts in 2017, carrying out visual and call surveys at 8 sites.
No bullfrogs were detected during these surveys, and as a result the bullfrog surveillance program was placed on hold in 2018. Nevertheless, SSISC intends on resuming its surveying and monitoring efforts should bullfrogs be detected or suspected in the Sea to Sky corridor in the future.
For more information
For more information about American Bullfrogs, you can visit our species profile page or head over to the BC Ministry of Environment website.
Potential and current distribution of American Bullfrogs in BC
