{"id":53081,"date":"2025-07-10T03:32:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T03:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/53081\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T03:32:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T03:32:12","slug":"jacksonville-zoo-releases-record-number-of-critically-endangered-toad-tadpoles-action-news-jax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/53081\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville Zoo releases record number of critically endangered toad tadpoles \u2013 Action News Jax"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens is celebrating a record-breaking year in its mission to save a critically endangered toad.<\/a><\/p>\n

This year, the zoo flew 24,485 Puerto Rican crested toad tadpoles out to their native wild habitat to grow and repopulate. Conducted through the Puerto Rican Crested Toad Conservancy<\/a>, the zoo says the number nearly doubled its overall total since its first tadpole release in 2011. <\/p>\n

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Puerto Rican crested toad conservation Tadpoles bred by Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens staff are released in their native Puerto Rico.
\nPhoto: Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Puerto Rican crested toad holds a special place in our conservation mission,\u201d said Cayle Pearson, Assistant Curator of Herpetology at Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens. \u201cTo see our efforts reach new heights in 2025 is a reflection of our team\u2019s dedication to protect Puerto Rico\u2019s only native toad as well as our commitment to conservation work worldwide.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Puerto Rican crested toad Puerto Rican crested toad
\nPhoto: Puerto Rican Crested Toad Conservancy <\/p>\n

[DOWNLOAD: <\/b>Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/b><\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n

The zoo says the Puerto Rican crested toad\u2019s population declined due to habitat loss, rising sea levels, disease, and invasive species like the Cuban tree frog.<\/p>\n

The species was the first amphibian to enlist in the Species Survival Plan program under the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Created in 1984, it remains the association\u2019s longest-running continuous amphibian reintroduction program.<\/p>\n

The zoo\u2019s herpetology team oversees the breeding and keeping of the amphibians, mimicking natural environmental conditions. <\/p>\n

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Puerto Rican crested toad conservation Puerto Rican crested toad tadpoles are hatched and counted at the Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens <\/p>\n

Once they arrive in Puerto Rico, they are monitored in man-made ponds until they become full-fledged wild toads.<\/p>\n

The work doesn\u2019t end there. The SSP\u2019s objective includes continuing research, safeguarding existing habitats, creating new ponds, and establishing a minimum of six self-sustaining populations in the wild.<\/p>\n

Over the past 6 years, the Zoo says it has contributed $1.75 million to conservation efforts across 35 programs. <\/p>\n

Learn more about each animal the zoo is working to conserve here.<\/a><\/p>\n

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

[SIGN UP: <\/b>Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/b><\/a>] <\/b><\/p>\n

Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens is celebrating a record-breaking year in its mission to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":53082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[7320,5229,7323,3188,723,7324,7310,7327,7325,7326,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,7322,7321],"class_list":{"0":"post-53081","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-action-news-jax","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-cbs47","11":"tag-fl","12":"tag-florida","13":"tag-fox30","14":"tag-jacksonville","15":"tag-jacksonville-fl","16":"tag-northeast-florida","17":"tag-southeast-georgia","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa","24":"tag-wfox","25":"tag-wjax"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114826834360080434","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}