TadpolesTadpoles
These tadpoles will develop into Puerto Rican crested toads, which are critically endangered. | Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens

Zoo sends 24,000 endangered tadpoles to Puerto Rico

Published on July 9, 2025 at 3:44 pm
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The Puerto Rican crested toad may be critically endangered, but it’s living large in its native land, thanks to efforts by the Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens.

The zoo has announced a record-breaking year of releasing more than 24,000 crested toad tadpoles into their native habitat. The number is nearly double what the zoo has released since 2011.

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That’s when the zoo decided to help bring the toad back from the brink of extinction due to habitat loss. A herpetology team mimicked environmental breeding conditions for adult toads. The tadpole hatchlings were flown to Puerto Rico and put into ponds, where they will become toadlets within two to three weeks.

The program is one of the zoo’s nearly $2 million in conservation expenditures over the past six years … and the longest-running amphibian reintroduction of its kind, according to a zoo spokesman.


author image Reporter email Michelle Corum is a reporter who previously served as Morning Edition host at WJCT News 89.9 for a dozen years. She’s worked in public radio in Kansas and Michigan, had her stories heard on NPR, and garnered newscast recognition by Florida AP Broadcasters. She also oversees WJCT's Radio Reading Service for the blind. Michelle brings corporate communication experience from metro D.C. and holds a master's degree from Central Michigan University and a bachelor's degree from Troy University.

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