LANSING, Mich. — Potter Park Zoo sent 1,800 Puerto Rican crested toad tadpoles to their namesake country last week, zoo officials say.
We’re told it’s part of conservation efforts to boost the endangered species’ population in an alliance with other zoos, organizations and individuals.
The zoo says the toads were believed to have gone extinct until several were found in northern Puerto Rico in 1967.
The toad was adopted under the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan in 1984, Potter Park Zoo tells us. They say the species breeds in specific conditions, which zoo officials replicate by cooling them to 66 degrees for a monthlong period and then warmed to 82 degrees.
Tadpoles hatch only 24 hours after egg development and become young toads two to three weeks later, according to zoo officials. After that, it can take years before they are fully grown.
