The Detroit Zoo will support the global effort by continuing to develop partnerships and husbandry protocols necessary to maintain endangered amphibian species in captivity. In addition, the Zoo will launch a yearlong public awareness campaign featuring special events, fundraising activities, educational opportunities and community outreach efforts.

More than a third of the planet’s 6,000 amphibian species are threatened with extinction due to habitat loss, climate change, pollution, pesticides, introduced species, over-collection and infectious diseases, including a deadly parasitic fungus called amphibian chytrid.

“Amphibians are the proverbial ‘canaries in the coal mine.’ When hundreds of species of an entire class of animal are in decline, it signals a threat to many other species,” said Ron Kagan, Executive Director of the Detroit Zoological Society. “Our participation in this unified conservation initiative reflects our commitment to a mission of celebrating and saving wildlife.”

Among its many amphibian successes in 2007, the Detroit Zoo produced toadlets through a collaborative captive breeding program for the federally endangered Wyoming toad. The Zoo has also achieved recent success breeding the endangered Panama golden frog and Emperor newt.

The Zoo is home to the nationally award-winning National Amphibian Conservation Center (NACC), a state-of-the-art facility situated on a two-acre wetland village called Amphibiville. The NACC features a spectacular diversity of amphibians, including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and caecilians. The Wall Street Journal once dubbed the attraction “Disneyland for toads.” -- www.detroitzoo.org