{"id":53226,"date":"2025-07-10T04:49:40","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T04:49:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/53226\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T04:49:40","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T04:49:40","slug":"jacksonville-zoo-releases-record-number-of-critically-endangered-toad-tadpoles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/53226\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville Zoo releases record number of critically endangered toad tadpoles"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"Tadpoles<\/p>\n

Tadpoles bred by Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens staff are released in their native Puerto Rico. Photo: 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

\"Puerto<\/p>\n

Puerto Rican crested toad Photo: 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

\"Puerto<\/p>\n

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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens is celebrating a record-breaking year in its mission to save a critically…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":53227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,15413,39659,39658,3188,723,7347,7310,15412,39657,39660,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-53226","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-botanical-gardens","10":"tag-conservation-mission","11":"tag-critically-endangered","12":"tag-fl","13":"tag-florida","14":"tag-free-action-news-jax","15":"tag-jacksonville","16":"tag-jacksonville-zoo","17":"tag-puerto-rican-crested-toad","18":"tag-the-zoo","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-united-states-of-america","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114827137232599494","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53226","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=53226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}