Wyoming Toad Husbandry Reintroduction

The Wyoming toad (Bufo baxteri) originally inhabited the Laramie Basin in Wyoming. Due to habitat destruction, pesticide use and a disease epidemic, the toad went from being one of the most abundant species in the Basin to completely extirpated in 1994.



In 1990, Toronto Zoo was invited to assist the US Fish and Wildlife Service in providing management recommendations to ensure the survival of the Wyoming toad. By 1994, the only Wyoming toads left were in the captive breeding program. Although captive breeding produced tadpoles that were later released, the wild population is believed to have succumbed to the deadly chytrid fungus. Currently, one of the two isolation quarantine rooms in the Toronto Zoo’s Amphibian Rescue Centre is dedicated to a population of Wyoming toads.

More on what the Toronto Zoo is doing for the WyomingToad (PDF)