An imported skin fungus could mean the end for the fire salamander in Germany. To save him from extinction, animals would have to be taken into human care. This is the result of a study commissioned by three Bavarian nature conservation associations.
According to Thursday’s announcement, there is currently no way to protect the fire salamander from the epidemic in its natural habitat or to treat infected animals. A network including zoos and private keepers is now to ensure the population of the endangered species through breeding. “Our goal is to be faster than the mushroom,” says Björn Encke, managing director of “Frogs & Friends”, who was responsible for the feasibility study. A little more than half a million euros would be needed for the program.
The skin fungus is called Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal). According to the information, an infestation of fire salamanders was first detected in Bavaria in 2020 in the Steigerwald. In the Ruhr area, in the Eifel and adjacent areas in Belgium and in the Netherlands, Bsal have already wiped out subpopulations. “We can’t lose any more time,” says biologist Andreas von Lindeiner from the State Association for Bird Protection (LBV). At the technical level, the partners are together, and a state-sponsored national species aid program is now necessary. There are already first experiences, it said. In the quarantine station of the Nuremberg zoo, five fire salamanders infected with Bsal from the Steigerwald were cured. However, they cannot return to their natural habitat.