Page 22 - Gateways_Fall2021

Zeigler asked the zoo’s curator of Herps &
Aquatics at Brookfield Zoo, Andy Snider, if he
would take some of the tadpoles and launch a Togo
slippery frog breeding program. The program’s
goal would be to create and maintain a sustainable
population of the frogs in managed care.
If Snider accepted the frogs, Brookfield
Zoo would become the only zoo in the world
to have the frogs in its collection. “I was scared
to death,” said Snider. “I didn’t want to be
the one to kill off a population of critically Above: Andy Snider,
endangered frogs.” Very little was known curator of Herps & Aquatics
about them, including how they breed, their Right: Joe Gusic, senior
habitat requirements, and importantly, what animal care specialist, feeds
they eat. But Snider and his staff were up Togo slippery frog tadpoles
for the challenge. They received a group of
25 tadpoles from Togo in 2016.
In a few short years, with a lot of hard work, Snider and his
team of animal care specialists have made a large impact on this
species. They initially brought 11 tadpoles into adulthood and
produced more than 200 metamorphosed juveniles, some of which
will be sent to other institutions. Roughly 200 eggs are laid at the
zoo each year, although all of them do not survive. In the process,
Snider’s team accumulated new knowledge about successful
husbandry techniques and breeding of the species, which they are
sharing with others.
The Togo slippery frog is one of the many species that
Brookfield Zoo’s Herps & Aquatics department has successfully Herp Extinction Crisis
reproduced. Herpetology is a branch of zoology that includes Today, scientists estimate that between 40 and 50 percent of the
reptiles and amphibians. Both are classes of vertebrate animals, world’s amphibian species and about 20 percent of known reptile
meaning their bodies contain a backbone. They are ectotherms, species are threatened, endangered, or critically endangered.
their body temperature is dependent on the temperature of their These figures are likely underestimates, say experts, because
environment. Amphibians spend part of their lives in water and many species haven’t been surveyed or even identified.
part on land. Frogs, toads, newts, salamanders, and caecilians The loss and degradation of habitat have been major threats to
(wormlike legless animals) are amphibians. the animals. For example, Togo slippery frogs need forested land
Reptiles are characterized by their dry, scaly skin. Most reptiles and fast-flowing streams to survive and breed. Logging, mining,
lay eggs. They include snakes, lizards, tuataras, turtles, tortoises, and farming have reduced or degraded their forest habitat and
crocodiles, and alligators. (Snider’s department oversees the largest the construction of a water plant stopped streams from flowing.
number of species and specimens at Brookfield Zoo. In addition Also, climate change is taking a toll on wildlife all over the
to herps, they include 77 species of fish and about 100 species of planet, said Snider. “It stays warmer for a longer period of time in
invertebrates, including insects, arachnids, crustaceans, mollusks, the summer. Cooler-dwelling amphibians are unable to move to
and more.) a higher elevation, or adapt to changes in temperature.”
“Andy has transformed that department into a super-active Invasive species, particularly disease-causing organisms
department,” said Zeigler. “Over the last few years, we’ve had that are easily spread, often by humans, are a huge threat.
multiple first-time breedings.” Since Snider arrived at Brookfield “Chytrid [kai-trid] disease has decimated the frog population,”
Zoo seven years ago, his department has reproduced more said Snider. The frog chytrid disease, or chytridiomycosis, was
than 40 species, many of which the zoo had never successfully first documented in the 1990s and has caused extinctions and
reproduced before. Many were reptiles and amphibians, including massive mortality events or die-offs of more than 200 species of
the green tree monitor, broad-tailed gecko, Philippine tree skink, amphibians, according to the Cornell Wildlife Health Lab based
and the Jamaican boa. at Cornell University.

22 GATEWAYS | SLIPPERY SCIENCE