ATTENTION VOLUNTEERS: Team Toad is going into brumation for the winter! Our volunteer program
will hop back into action in the spring of 2023. To stay in the loop, join Team Toad below.
Colorado’s boreal toads are in trouble. As deadly chytrid fungus continues to spread from wetland to wetland, they need our help if they’re going to survive. In collaboration with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Denver Zoo is taking two conservation actions to bring boreal toads back from the brink:
Breeding + Release. To prevent boreal toad populations from completely disappearing, we are using our animal care expertise to breed these native amphibians at Denver Zoo and then release the tadpoles into the wild. This will also give wild populations more of a chance to build genetic resistance to chytrid.
Community Science. To save the boreal toad, we need to understand how it’s doing in Colorado, and that’s where you come in! In the summer months, volunteer community scientists play a key role in boreal toad conservation by monitoring historic toad habitat. This data will help by identifying future sites for wild reintroduction and locating unknown populations (potentially even ‘super-toads’ that may have natural resistance to chytrid fungus).