CPW and Denver Zoo team up to save endangered boreal toad

The Denver Zoo and Colorado Parks and Wildlife have taken the next step in a program to increase the number of boreal toads in the state.

The two teamed up last November to help the toads which are an endangered species in Colorado and New Mexico.

Experts from the zoo started with 95 adult toads from the CPW's Native Aquatic Species Restoration Facility in Alamosa. They spent six months breeding and nurturing tadpoles.

Now those tadpoles are swimming at high altitude after the team made the trek to a remote site in Gunnison National Forest where they released 570 tadpoles.

"This was the result of a tremendous amount of hard work and planning by our partners at Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and members of our animal care and field conservation teams," Erica Elvove, Senior Vice President for Conservation Engagement and Impact at Denver Zoo said in a news release.

"Boreal toads face an extremely uncertain future in Colorado and have a good chance of going extinct without human intervention. We're committed to continuing this effort with CPW for many years to come, and doing our part to make sure the species remains part of Colorado's ecosystem for future generations."

In that same release, Daniel Cammack, Southwest Region Native Aquatic Species Biologist with CPW said "It was a very special day to join our partners from the Denver Zoo to release boreal tadpoles that the Zoo produced at their facility."

"We've been stocking tadpoles at this site for about five years now, and we have high hopes that the tadpoles we introduced will contribute to a self-sustaining breeding population. It's a pretty big win for boreal toad conservation."

The boreal toad population in the Southern Rocky Mountains, where they were once common between 7,000-12,000 feet, has dropped dramatically.

 
The decline appears to be related to habitat loss and infection by the chytrid fungus. It's estimated there may be few as 800 wild adult toads left in Colorado.

CPW is researching what's behind the decline while working on ways to reintroduce the toad.

"The boreal toad is a really unique amphibian," Cammack said. "We are up at 11,500 feet at timberline practically, and they are gutting out these big winters covered by snow. They are an integral part of the landscape and were ubiquitous once in Colorado in this habitat. With chytrid fungus now being the primary cause of decline, we don't have that many populations of boreal toad remaining. For us to get something else going is really important."

Program managers say they expect it will take many years to restore the population and expect this collaboration to be a multi-year program.

"As someone who grew up in Colorado and loves wildlife, I like to think about what it would be like to jump in a time machine before there were big population centers and see what wildlife looked like on the landscape," Cammack said. "These are the critters that were here. Now with boreal toads and other native fish and things that I work with, they've declined so far that they only occupy a fraction of what they once occupied. It's a good crusade, in my opinion, to try to conserve even a fraction of what was and keep these creatures represented on the landscape. They have an inherent right to exist."