Just back from visit with colleagues at Bx Zoo, learned 2,000 more Kihansi Sparay Toads returned to Tanzania for release; I worked with these amazing, live-bearing creatures when they first came in, interesting story: Kihansi Spray Toads, Extinct in the Wild, Return to Africa | That Reptile Blog
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Spray Toads bred at Bx Zoo return to tanzania
- Thread starter findi
- Start date
@findi, this is the very essence why zoos matter and really can make a huge difference for endangered and rare species at home and abroad!
I hope the reintroduction effort will be successful and warrant more future releases to prop up the population.
However, .. some food for thought .. I do seem to remember that the mist / waterfall environment these Kihansi spray frogs depend upon has been so significantly altered that .. their habitat is actually lost. In any reintroduction effort - as you probably well know - any threats to the very habitat these frogs existed in / depended upon must have been taken away. Are we really sure those threats have now been confronted and solutions found? What are the guarantees coming back from the Tanzanian administration and authorities for the spray frogs?
I hope the reintroduction effort will be successful and warrant more future releases to prop up the population.
However, .. some food for thought .. I do seem to remember that the mist / waterfall environment these Kihansi spray frogs depend upon has been so significantly altered that .. their habitat is actually lost. In any reintroduction effort - as you probably well know - any threats to the very habitat these frogs existed in / depended upon must have been taken away. Are we really sure those threats have now been confronted and solutions found? What are the guarantees coming back from the Tanzanian administration and authorities for the spray frogs?
HI,
Thanks for the feedback. Artificial spray systems have been installed -- highly experimental but deemed worth the risk; breeding now routine (2,000 were sent back recently) and follow up studies could yield useful info for this and other species. There were red tape/gov't problems back when I was at the Bx Zoo, hopefully have been resolved but I don't have any recent info on that aspect., Best, Frank
Thanks for the feedback. Artificial spray systems have been installed -- highly experimental but deemed worth the risk; breeding now routine (2,000 were sent back recently) and follow up studies could yield useful info for this and other species. There were red tape/gov't problems back when I was at the Bx Zoo, hopefully have been resolved but I don't have any recent info on that aspect., Best, Frank
Always nice to hear that Frank!