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Abstract
Head-starting is an important management strategy to support at-risk gopher frog (Rana capito) populations. However, most head-started frogs (head-starts) die shortly after being released back into the wild. In 2021, we attempted to experimentally examine ways to improve survival of head-starts, but we terminated our original project when 99% of our frogs developed abnormalities of the skin, eyes, gills, and/or jaws. We learned that gopher frog abnormalities date back to 2017 but further work is needed to elucidate their cause. To improve survival of head-starts, we tested a soft release approach using healthy 10-month-old head-starts. We compared survival and movement of hard- and soft-released frogs using telemetry. All frogs survived the penning period and survival was similar for both groups after release. However, soft released frogs moved shorter distances than hard released frogs. We conclude that soft releases are an effective tool to limit post-release movement.