A Collaborative Quest to Save an Endangered Toad from Extinction
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The boreal toad is Colorado’s only alpine species of toad; this high-altitude amphibian lives at 7,000 to 12,000 feet of elevation in mountain ponds and lakes. They used to thrive, but are now facing a severely declining population.
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Currently, there is a shockingly low estimation of around 800 adult toads living in Colorado. The major threats: habitat loss, climate change, and a deadly fungus called chytrid that is wiping out amphibian populations globally.
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In 2008, the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources started an assurance colony at the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Since then, collaborators from around the U.S. joined the effort to save the species.
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Eggs were collected from the wild to be hatched and raised for rerelease at the following facilities: Utah’s Hogle Zoo, the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium, Denver Zoo, Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, and the Division’s Wahweap Warmwater Fish Hatchery.
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Currently, 145 toads from 15 sibling lots are being maintained at these institutions.
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In 2019, Denver Zoo was the first to successfully breed boreal toads, using hormone injections for laying eggs, which led to the release of 613 newly metamorphosed toads (toadlets) that were taken on a “toad trip” from Colorado to Utah and released.
In 2019, Denver Zoo was the first to successfully breed boreal toads, using hormone injections for laying eggs, which led to the release of 613 newly metamorphosed toads (toadlets) that were taken on a “toad trip” from Colorado to Utah and released.