Natural History Museum Bern breeds critically endangered toads
Published: Tuesday, May 7th 2024, 16:00
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The Natural History Museum in Bern is breeding critically endangered toads. Twelve of the poisonous Rio Pescado stump-footed toads have moved into a terrarium, as the museum announced on Tuesday.
As part of the so-called Citizen Conservation Project, various museums and zoos around the world are attempting to rebuild the population of these toads from Ecuador, as explained by the Natural History Museum Bern (NMBE).
An invasive fungus had brought the Rio Pescado stump-footed toads to the brink of extinction. Between 1995 and 2010, not a single specimen had been sighted, as the Citizen Conservation Project writes on its website. At the "Centro Jambatu de Investigación y Conservación de Anfibios" in Quito, Ecuador, the animals were brought to safety after their rediscovery and bred in terrariums.
According to the NMBE, caring for the toads requires safety measures. This is because their skin secretes a strong toxin. There is also a strict documentation requirement to ensure that the Ecuadorian authorities and the Citizen Conservation Project are always informed exactly how the populations are developing. In addition to the NMBE, Basel Zoo also breeds Rio pescado toads in Switzerland.
©Keystone/SDA
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