Last month I visited Prague Zoo ( Czech Republic ) and found in the Terrarium House a huge tank with a huge number of Lake Titicaca water frogs ( see Enclosure Titicaca water frog - ZooChat ). I didn't count them but there were at least 100 of them ! I had seen this threatened species already before at Blijdorp Rotterdam and at Dierenpark Amersfoort ( both the Netherlands ) and wanted to have some more information about the current captive population.
In the 1990s the species was already kept at the Bronx Zoo but the small group didn't breed and died-out.
Then around 2007 the Denver Zoo started to do some research in the wild and in cooperation with the local Huachipa Zoo in Peru they started a conservation project.
With some confiscated animals the Huachipa Zoo had its first breeding result in March 2015.. In Nov. 2015 20 of the captive-bred frogs were send to Denver and in 2017 they also started to breed there. The first succes resulted in 200 tadpoles ! After this succes Denver started to send animals to other US-zoos and as far as I was able to find-out the following US-zoos recieved Denver-bred water frogs :
- Omaha
- Detroit
- Columbus - since 2020, bred the same year already 7 tadpoles
- Fort Worth
- Saint Louis
- Brookfield
- Cincinnati
- Dallas
Since 2019 Denver send also a large number of captive-bred frogs to Chester and Prague and thes 2 zoos send again a large number of these Denver-bred animals to other European collections :
- Prague recieved 2019 70 animals from Denver and send 50 of them to Schönbrunn - Vienna, Haus des Meeres - Vienna and Wroclaw. The remaining animals at Praguebred for the first time that same year ( 2019 ) and as I could see myself last month, they are breeding very well !
- Chester recieved also 2019 150 Denver-bred animals and a large number was send to other European zoos. The remaining frogs bred at Chester during 2019 and in July 2021 thepopulation at Chester was 11.9.18.
- Schönbrunn - Vienna recieved 2019 20 animals from Chester and Prague and has already bred succesfully with them.
- Haus des Meeres - Vienna recieved also 2019 15 animals from Chester and Prague and also bred them that same year.
- Aquazoo Düsseldorf : 8 animals arrived 2019 from Chester and in the meantime they have also already bred.
- Allwetterzoo Münster : a number of frogs were recieved from Chester in 2019 and bred succesfull the same year ( German first-breeding ).
- Dierenpark Amersfoort : 4 pairs were recieved from Chester in 2019 and in 2021 the bred for the first time - 6 animals.
- Blijdorp Rotterdam recieved 10 animals during 2019 and they bred there already the same year.
-Wroclaw recieved 2019 15 animals from Prague and Chester and the same year already 10 were bred.
- Whipsnade got its frogs from Chester in 2019 and in 2021 they bred 18 frogs.
- Berkshire College got in 2019 also some animals from Chester and they were in 2020 succesfull in breeding the species.
- Paignton recieved 2021 2 pairs from Slimbridge and they have not bred yet.
- Slimbridge recieved its animals 2019 from Chester and they bred the species also already that same year.
This makes 13 European collections which are keeping this threatened species at the moment and 12 of them have already bred the species !
A huge succes-story but still some questions about the long-term prospect of this breeding-programm:
- Howmany founders were involved in the first shipment send from Peru to Denver ?
- Howmany founders were involved in the large number of offsprings send from Denver to other US-zoos and to Europe ?
- How are the breeding-results in the other US-zoos next to Denver ?
I hope the founder-population is diverse enough to establish a healthy captive population in Peru, the US and in Europe and if breeding-results will continue in the way its now in Europe, I'm sure we will see the species become more and more common - at least in Europebut lets keep an eye on the future development !
Endangered Frogs Bounce Back - Denver Zoo
Titicaca Frogs Hatch for First Time in North America
In the 1990s the species was already kept at the Bronx Zoo but the small group didn't breed and died-out.
Then around 2007 the Denver Zoo started to do some research in the wild and in cooperation with the local Huachipa Zoo in Peru they started a conservation project.
With some confiscated animals the Huachipa Zoo had its first breeding result in March 2015.. In Nov. 2015 20 of the captive-bred frogs were send to Denver and in 2017 they also started to breed there. The first succes resulted in 200 tadpoles ! After this succes Denver started to send animals to other US-zoos and as far as I was able to find-out the following US-zoos recieved Denver-bred water frogs :
- Omaha
- Detroit
- Columbus - since 2020, bred the same year already 7 tadpoles
- Fort Worth
- Saint Louis
- Brookfield
- Cincinnati
- Dallas
Since 2019 Denver send also a large number of captive-bred frogs to Chester and Prague and thes 2 zoos send again a large number of these Denver-bred animals to other European collections :
- Prague recieved 2019 70 animals from Denver and send 50 of them to Schönbrunn - Vienna, Haus des Meeres - Vienna and Wroclaw. The remaining animals at Praguebred for the first time that same year ( 2019 ) and as I could see myself last month, they are breeding very well !
- Chester recieved also 2019 150 Denver-bred animals and a large number was send to other European zoos. The remaining frogs bred at Chester during 2019 and in July 2021 thepopulation at Chester was 11.9.18.
- Schönbrunn - Vienna recieved 2019 20 animals from Chester and Prague and has already bred succesfully with them.
- Haus des Meeres - Vienna recieved also 2019 15 animals from Chester and Prague and also bred them that same year.
- Aquazoo Düsseldorf : 8 animals arrived 2019 from Chester and in the meantime they have also already bred.
- Allwetterzoo Münster : a number of frogs were recieved from Chester in 2019 and bred succesfull the same year ( German first-breeding ).
- Dierenpark Amersfoort : 4 pairs were recieved from Chester in 2019 and in 2021 the bred for the first time - 6 animals.
- Blijdorp Rotterdam recieved 10 animals during 2019 and they bred there already the same year.
-Wroclaw recieved 2019 15 animals from Prague and Chester and the same year already 10 were bred.
- Whipsnade got its frogs from Chester in 2019 and in 2021 they bred 18 frogs.
- Berkshire College got in 2019 also some animals from Chester and they were in 2020 succesfull in breeding the species.
- Paignton recieved 2021 2 pairs from Slimbridge and they have not bred yet.
- Slimbridge recieved its animals 2019 from Chester and they bred the species also already that same year.
This makes 13 European collections which are keeping this threatened species at the moment and 12 of them have already bred the species !
A huge succes-story but still some questions about the long-term prospect of this breeding-programm:
- Howmany founders were involved in the first shipment send from Peru to Denver ?
- Howmany founders were involved in the large number of offsprings send from Denver to other US-zoos and to Europe ?
- How are the breeding-results in the other US-zoos next to Denver ?
I hope the founder-population is diverse enough to establish a healthy captive population in Peru, the US and in Europe and if breeding-results will continue in the way its now in Europe, I'm sure we will see the species become more and more common - at least in Europebut lets keep an eye on the future development !
Endangered Frogs Bounce Back - Denver Zoo
Titicaca Frogs Hatch for First Time in North America
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