Want to get involved?

As the weather warms up, spring seems just around the corner with its familiar chorus of wildlife. But each year, chirping voices grow weaker and weaker for Illinois amphibians.

A new interactive exhibit at The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum aims to teach kids about the importance of caring for their frog, newt and salamander neighbors.

“It’s about encouraging awareness of our environment, and how our practices in the environment affect amphibians,” said Alvaro Ramos, the museum’s exhibits and design manager.

Amazing Amphibians, which opened Saturday, incorporates interactive games, films and live animal exhibits to educate children. While it’s designed for children from ages 6 to 13, there is plenty of information for adults, as well.

The most prominent feature of the exhibit is a large maze, which presents visitors with a series of conservation-related questions they must answer correctly to find their way out.

“Even though it’s a simple activity, being able to answer a question yes or no regarding conservation seems to be a very powerful teaching tool,” Ramos said. “Because getting the right answers is what gets you to the end.”

Getting the answers right also is critical when it comes to amphibian conservation.

Northern Illinois used to be full of amphibian-rich marshland, according to John Archer, president of the Chicago Herpetological Society. Over the last 20 years, that habitat has been gradually degrading as waste increases and more homes and highways spring up.

Because most amphibians can only thrive in swampy marshes, destruction of this habitat has sent Midwestern amphibian populations into decline.

“Amphibians tend to have very porous skin,” Archer said. “And that makes them very susceptible to anything in the water.”

This makes keeping water sources clean extremely important. Archer noted that one accidental oil spill can wipe out an entire species. He suggested people should learn to properly dispose of cleaning supplies, fertilizer and other potential contaminants.

There are 24 threatened or endangered amphibian species in Illinois, according to University of Illinois’ Illinois Natural History Survey. The key to protecting those remaining populations is careful animal monitoring in their natural habitats.

Chicago Wilderness, a nonprofit dedicated to conservation, has a frog monitoring workshop where residents explore local swamps and record the frogs calls they hear. This allows researchers to identify where certain amphibian species are located and if the same species remain year over year.

According to Archer, this kind of involved conservation is an important solution, because once marshland habitats are lost, they cannot be recreated.

“You still cannot build a wetland that’s going to have the diversity and the detail that’s needed to support all the animals that a normal wetland does,” Archer said.