The Panamanian Golden Frog

We do not hear much of Panama. Apart from insurance-fraudsters Anne-Darwin and her formerly-dead canoeist husband, John, incriminating themselves being photographed there, we do not hear much of Panama.
Even I, who was an avid geographer in my pre-teens and learned by rote all the capital cities of the world, would have trouble finding that slip of a country that looks as though it shoulders the responsibility of keeping the landmasses of the north and south Americas from tearing away from each other.
Thanks to David Attenborough's ever enlightening wildlife documentaries - the current run named Life In Cold Blood - I know a little more about Panama. Specifically, that it is home to a fascinating but endangered amphibian, the golden frog.
Attenborough's Life In Cold Blood explores the lives of cold-blooded animals (ectotherms, to use the accurate term) such as lizards, snakes and frogs. The focus of the last quarter of the second episode of the series devoted itself to the Panamanian golden frog.
Not only these frogs remarkable for their aurification, but they communicate with each other with hand-gestures. They wave. The exact meaning of the wave is not know. It could be a greeting, a peace-sign, or a warning. But the wave is performed with something like a refined dignity. It is both very gentlemanly and martial at once. As I sat watching this foray into the lives of the Panamanian golden frog, I thought to myself please don't announce that they're on the brink of extinction (as you do). My pessimism was not unfounded. The golden frog is indigenous and exclusive to Panama and - in spite of being an ever-present feature in Panamanian folk-lore - has always been a rare species. And now they are on the brink of extinction. I was primed to get angry with humans, anticipating logging or some other autistic (in the Greek sense of the word) human activity as responsible for their demise. But no - and if there is a consolation - it seems that humans are (relatively) blameless for it is a fungal infection sweeping through the golden frog community and wiping them out. Attenboroughs film crew had to be disinifected before approaching the frogs so as to not distribute the fungal disease any more. Since Attenborough and his film crew captured the frogs on film in the wild, they have been extracted from their habitat and relocated to the safety of expert care. Infected frogs are in hospital. It is hoped that the numbers of the golden frog can be raised and that one day they will be returned to their natural habitat. Other eco-systems depend upon it. The following website offers further information about the golden frog http://www.ranadorada.org/species-info.htm as does Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_frog David Attenborough's Life In Cold Blood can be seen on BBC1 Mondays at 21.00.