For more than 20 years, Jim and Laura Currie burned and replanted their Mississippi land

NewsScience NewsWildlife NewsFor more than 20 years, Jim and Laura Currie burned and replanted their Mississippi land to bring back longleaf pine for gopher tortoises; now nearly 500 critically endangered dusky gopher frogs have been released there For more than 20 years, Jim and Laura Currie burned and replanted their Mississippi land to bring back longleaf pine for gopher tortoises; now nearly 500 critically endangered dusky gopher frogs have been released there TOI Science Desk / TIMESOFINDIA.COM / Nov 13, 2026, 11:03 IST Sometimes, giving wildlife a chance to survive begins with something as simple as opening up your own land to nature.

For Jim and Laura Currie, a couple in Mississippi, it was just that. In more than two decades of working with biologists to restore their privately owned land, they have now helped create a home for an increasingly rare animal.

The Mississippi gopher frog is listed as Endangered under the US Endangered Species Act and Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Nearly 500 dusky gopher frogs have been released on their property to help protect this rare amphibian in the United States.According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the release took place in June 2026 at Woodland Cottage, the Curries' property in Hancock County, Mississippi, as reported on July 29, 2026.

The frogs were bred in captivity by the Memphis Zoo before being released into ponds across the restored land. The event was made possible through a collaboration involving the USFWS, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, the Memphis Zoo, Wildlife Mississippi and the couple themselves.

Establishing a population requires continued monitoring to understand whether the frogs survive, reproduce and gradually establish themselves in their new surroundings. The USFWS describes the release as an important milestone in a much larger recovery effort involving habitat restoration, captive breeding and cooperation between conservation organisations and private landowners.The Curries' property has given the frog a second chance at life, helping protect a rare amphibian and providing it with a home.

A 20-year-long effort not only made this release possible but also helped restore an ecosystem that other wildlife can benefit from.Your child uses AI every day. But do they understand it? Find out in the TOI AI Masterclass.

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