The exhibit focuses on the conservation and reintroduction of the mountain yellow-legged frog, a critically endangered amphibian.

Step into a fictional California mountainside world to discover how frogs flourish amid adversity when Birch Aquarium at UC San Diego’ Scripps Institution of Oceanography opens its new exhibition “Imagine Wild: Mountain Yellow-legged Frog” Friday, March 20.

The immersive installation is meant to entertain and educate, allowing guests to explore the forest, meadows and lake that form the mountain yellow-legged frog habitat to discover their story of resilience, uncover the threats they face and learn how science and conservation are giving them a second chance. 

Birch Aquarium joined the mountain yellow-legged frog conservation effort in 2024, raising more than 200 frogs from tadpoles to adults that were released into a wildlife preserve in summer 2025, marking the first-ever species reintroduction for Birch Aquarium, a huge milestone for the La Jolla institution.

“Imagine Wild: Mountain Yellow-legged Frog” invites guests to imagine the landscape as it could be, uncovering the many complex elements needed to create a healthy ecosystem for these endangered amphibians, along with the decades-long process of restoring a habitat and the cooperative efforts involved in bringing frogs back to the land.

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