The Denver Zoo and Colorado Parks and Wildlife have joined forces to launch a program they say will help revive the dwindling population of the state’s boreal toads. 

Over the past two decades, the toad population has declined because of habitat loss. The toads have also been hit hard by the chytrid fungus, which can infect amphibian species.

The toads live in the Southern Rocky Mountains at an elevation between 7,000 and 12,000 feet. They are listed as endangered in Colorado and New Mexico. But through the partnership, the population should grow by as much as 20,000 by next year, officials said. 

“Boreal toads are in a lot of trouble, but their numbers are still relatively strong even though their population is in decline,” Stefan Ekernas, the zoo’s Rocky Mountain/Great Plains program director, said in an email. “We’re excited to join in the effort to help the species make a meaningful recovery while there’s still time.”

Last month, a team of conservation and amphibian experts from the zoo went to the Native Aquatic Species Restoration Facility in Alamosa to bring 95 boreal toads to the zoo for its breeding program. They were put into a brumation – a natural state of inactivity during winter months – and will be bred this spring, officials said. 

The tadpoles will be released into the state’s wilderness next summer and should provide a significant boost to the population. 

The zoo has been an active amphibian conservation site for more than 15 years. It was recognized as the first zoo in the Northern Hemisphere to successfully breed critically endangered Lake Titicaca frogs in 2018, officials said. 

Likewise, the Native Aquatic Species Restoration Facility is dedicated to protect and restore threatened and endangered aquatic species that are native to Colorado. The facility is operate by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. 

Officials said the state-of-the-art facility has protected 16 fish species and stocked more than 2.1 million fish in rivers, streams and lakes in Colorado. The facility is raising 12 species of threatened and endangered fish, officials said. 

“We have had success in the past producing boreal toad eggs and tadpoles at NASRF, but it is challenging, and with the increasing need for more animals, we need to step up breeding and reintroduction efforts,” said Harry Crockett, native aquatic species coordinator for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. “This is a great opportunity for boreal toad conservation and collaboration with a strong conservation partner in Denver Zoo. We will really benefit from their expertise, experience in the conservation and breeding of boreal toads and other (endangered) amphibian species.”

Officials from the zoo and Colorado Parks and Wildlife said it could take “many years” for the population of boreal toads to reach a secure level in the Southern Rocky Mountains and they expect the collaboration to be a multiyear program.

While the project continues, the zoo will launch a community science project where volunteers can monitor the survival of released toads and evaluate potential release sites around the state, officials said.