"Potentially game-changing discovery" at 11,500 feet means hope for dwindling species

A "potentially game-changing discovery" has been made in the Colorado high country – the culmination of years of hard work by a dedicated group of wildlife experts with the shared goal of helping a once-prolific Colorado species recover.

According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Native Aquatic Species Biologist Dan Cammack recently found wild boreal toad tadpoles during a trip up to a wetland area near Pitkin that's located at 11,500 feet of elevation. Having made trips to the site for seven consecutive years throughout the course of a boreal toad reintroduction project, Cammack said that this is the first time wild reproduction of the toad species has been confirmed in the area, with more than 20,000 tadpoles having been stocked at the site since 2017 in hopes that natural reproduction would occur.

The boreal toad is a tough amphibian species that lives between 7,000 and 12,000 feet in elevation, capable of surviving when deep snow covers the landscape and with only a few months of warmth throughout the year. The species was once common in the Southern Rocky Mountains, though habitat loss and rampant infection by the chytrid fungus has resulted in a rapid population decline – some estimates have indicated there could be as few as 800 wild adult boreal toads in the state. This fungus – which results in a disease that damages the skin of amphibians and makes breathing and survival difficult – is a key threat to the Colorado state-endangered boreal toad, with the original 600 toads stocked into the site in 2017 serving as sentinels for the fungus.

One characteristic of the borealis toad that has made the reintroduction effort lengthy is that females of the species aren't reproductively mature until about age six. Given that young tadpoles are being reintroduced, this means a waiting game for biologists hopeful that efforts from years prior eventually pay off.

“For years, we have been watching multiple age classes thrive at this site, so we had high hopes this was going to become a self-sustaining breeding population and a successful translocation,” said Cammack. “This is the first year we’ve seen breeding occurring in this wetland, and it is evidence of that success. This day is a culmination of a lot of dedicated people’s efforts, including multiple biologists, technicians, and hatchery personnel. Everyone who has been involved in this project has poured their heart and soul into it. That's what it takes to get here.”

According to officials, this is only the second translocation site in Colorado where natural breeding has occurred, with the first being located near Cameron Pass in northern Colorado.

Multiple agencies have been involved in the boreal toad recovery effort, including Colorado Parks and Wildlife and their Boreal Toad Recovery Team, as well as partners from New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, federal agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the National Park Service, the Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance, and various universities that have conducted critical research.

“They are an integral part of the landscape, as far as I’m concerned," said Cammack. "They were ubiquitous once in Colorado in this habitat. With chytrid fungus now being the primary cause of decline, we don’t have that many populations of boreal toad remaining. For us to get something else going here is really important. These are the native species that were historically abundant and so common that it would have been hard to imagine this major decline. As someone who grew up in Colorado and loves wildlife, I wish I could jump in a time machine and experience these ecosystems before they faced these major threats. No doubt, critters like boreal toads were here in force."

Cammack continued, “Unfortunately, they have since declined so far that they represent only a shadow of the past. It’s a mandatory crusade, in my opinion, to conserve the fragments that remain and keep these creatures represented on the landscape. Like all native creatures, they have an inherent right to exist. Our story and identity as Coloradans are more intact when these populations thrive.”

Cammack described the discovery of these new tadpoles as a monumental day in his career.

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