The Wyoming Toads are coming out of their hibernation! Once the toads awake from hibernation by gradually increasing the temperature, they will be introduced in pairs to breed for the season. If successful, each individual pair can lay up to 7,000 eggs at one time. These eggs, eventually hatching into tadpoles, will be shipped out to Laramie , Wyoming and back into the wild! This is just one of the amazing Conservation Projects Como Park Zoo and Conservatory are involved with annually.
Since 2010, Como Zoo has participated in the Wyoming Toad Recovery Program and Annual Species Survival Plan Meeting and field work. I not only pair the toads for breeding in-house for Como Zoo; but also travel to Laramie, WY annually. I assist with field surveys of the reintroduction of the Wyoming Toad at multiple sites at Mortenson Lake and surrounding lakes. Data secured will assist program leaders in gauging the success or failure of current practices allowing them to make adjustment to the program as needed. This annual surveying of this site and is a continuation of the efforts to establish a self-sustaining wild population of Bufo baxteri in North America. Como Zoo has released over 8,700 tadpoles and toadlets at these safe harbors since 2010.
- Zookeeper Bree
