Pongo Poison Frog (Ameerega pongoensis)One of my all-time favorite poison frogs, the Pongo Poison Frog (Ameerega pongoensis) was described by my friend, Rainer Schulte, in 1999. This species lives at lower Andean elevations and has a relatively small range - elevation: 180-300m. The type locality is a stream in the Huallaga Canyon- north bank (Pongo de Aguirre). The Pongos are rocky gorges where rivers cut through the mountain chains of East Peru. These frogs are difficult to see in the wild and masters of life in the leaf litter. They are small, agile, and shy. Their call is a distinctive whistle, repeated at intervals. Males are smaller than females. The flank and venter color are variable according to the particular population within the range of the species. Some populations have blue flanks. ''Ameerega pongoensis'', formerly ''Epipedobates pongoensis'', is a species of frog in the family Dendrobatidae that is endemic to the San Martín and Loreto Regions of Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, rivers, freshwater marshes, and intermittent freshwater marshes. It is threatened by encroaching agriculture and is illegally harvested for the pet trade.