Going Home - Rare Toads Return to Tanzania

One hundred rare, captive-bred toads recently braved a trans-Atlantic journey from breeding centers in US to their native country of Tanzania. Now in Dar es Salaam, the toads—Kihansi spray toads to be exact—are settling-in at a new, cutting-edge breeding center. Scientists there hope, at some time in the near future, to be able to release some toads back into their native habitat in Kihansi Gorge. But for now, the species only survives in captivity.

The Kihansi spray toad was discovered in 1996 living near waterfalls in Kihansi Gorge. The frog is picky when it comes to its habitat and prefers the misty patches next to the waterfalls. When a hydroelectric dam was constructed in 1999, the waterfalls fell to a trickle and much of the toad's habitat dried up. The last wild Kihansi spray toad was spotted in 2004 and conservationists declared the species extinct in the wild by 2009.

Fortuantely, prior to the toad's disappearance in the wild, scientists gathered 499 of the toads in an effort to save the species. After years of captive breeding, there are now 1,500 toads at the Toledo Zoo and 5,000 toads at the Bronx Zoo. As the number of toads increase, the Bronx and Toledo Zoos will continue to send toads back to Tanzania.

The Kihansi spray toad conservation efforts represent the combined effort of the Bronx Zoo, Toledo Zoo, Wildlife Conservation Society, the World Bank and by the Tanzanian Government.

Photo © Julie Larsen Maher / Wildlife Conservation Society.