Monthly Archives: August 2010

08/5/10

Amphibian Ark Exhibit Opened at Paignton Zoo

If you live in England or are visiting England this summer, you might want to hop over to the Paignton Zoo, which yesterday  launched  the Amphibian Ark exhibit, The event was hosted by actor and musician Anthony Head (the cool Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

Dendrobates azureus (Poison Blue Dart Frog) photographed by R.D. Bartlett

Here’s some info from the zoo’s website (edited):

Amphibian Ark will be home to 14 amphibian species, including the blue poison dart frog, the phantasmal poison dart frog, and the Anderson’s axolotl. Staff have also been working with relatively common species to perfect husbandry routines and protocols before taking on endangered amphibians.

Mike Bungard, Curator of Lower Vertebrates and Invertebrates at Paignton Zoo Environmental Park, said: “I’m very pleased – the facilities are excellent. We have a large, flexible working space with on and off-show animal care areas, the capacity for high level bio-security and a state-of-the-art water treatment system. The water garden links the exotic amphibians indoors with the idea of domestic garden conservation.”

Out of 6,000 known amphibian species, 50% are threatened or endangered, compared to 10% of mammal species. Amphibians are affected by habitat loss, climate change, pollution, pesticides and the deadly chytrid fungus. Unstoppable and untreatable in the wild, the fungus can kill 80% of amphibians within months. The aim is to protect species from the fungus, possibly by taking animals from the wild and then reintroducing them when it is safe to do so.

It’s hoped that Amphibian Ark will inform and inspire visitors, breed rare species, and become an internationally recognised training facility for herpetologists. Staff have launched two field conservation projects in the last year in Tanzania and Trinidad.

The zoo is close to Torquay (in Devon), which is accessible by train, and from Torquay you can take a bus  to Paignton.

08/3/10

Fighting to Save Colorado's Boreal Toad

The Colorado Division of Wildlife is struggling to save a local amphibian from extinction—the four-inch boreal toad. Once abundant, it is one of many frog species worldwide threatened with extinction by the chytrid fungus, an infectious disease that is devastating amphibian populations. (See our recent post about some rececent promising chytrid fungus research.)

Boreal toad, Colorado

The federal government has refused to list the boreal toad as an endangered species, claiming it is genetically the same as a toad found throughout the West. Tina Jackson of the Colorado Division of Wildlife and other experts disagree.  The toad is, however, a state-listed endangered species in Colorado and New Mexico, and a protected species in Wyoming.

The boreal toads were once common in Colorado’s Southern Rocky mountains. They were found near shallow lakes and beaver ponds at an elevation of 7,000 to 12.000 feet. Thirty years ago, the toads began to disappear. Habitat loss due to logging, grazing, recreation, and water projects contributed to their decline.

But by the late-1990s, the chytrid fungus was identified as the main threat to the toads.  Several hundred  toads have been raised in captivity and reintroduced to the wild, but so far these efforts have not been successful in producing breeding adults.

At two sites, in Larimer County and in Rocky Mountain National Park,  a few introduced toads have survived their first few years. Some of these toads are now 3 and 4 years old, and officials will soon know if they will breed.

The agency has trained volunteers to look for boreal toads while hiking, especially in remote areas where in which toads have not been infected by the chytrid fungus.  Toads reintroduced into these chytrid-free areas might have a fighting chance at survival.

For more information see:

DOW Doesn’t Want this Toad to Croak, by R. Scott Rappold, The Colora,do Springs Gazette