Endangered toads are born through in vitro fertilization to offer hope for averting their extinction

Endangered toads are born through in vitro fertilization

There is hope for its extinction

An international team of scientists has announced that they have made new progress in rescuing puerto Rican crested toads, giving birth to the endangered animal through in vitro fertilization for the first time, bringing hope to avoid its extinction.

According to a recent report by the Physicists Organization Network, a toad named "Olaf", whose name is derived from the frozen sperm that gave birth to it, is one of the more than 300 Puerto Rican crested toads hatched this time. Diana Barber, a cold-blooded animal ranger at the Fort Worth Zoo in Texas, USA, said: "We don't usually name toads, and this one deserves special memories, and we are so excited." ”

Last year, Barber and scientists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Puerto Rico's Department of Natural Resources traveled to the small town of Guayanera, southwest of Puerto Rico, to collect the semen of six male Puerto Rican crested toads and release them back into the wild. They chose a large toad that had matured, kept their semen in liquid nitrogen, and transported it to the Fort Worth Zoo, where two hormone-injected female toads were waiting.

Of the more than 300 toads born of IVF, 100 were sent to other zoos with captive breeding programs, and the other 200 will be sent to Puerto Rico via FedEx in December and released into the wild.

Acting Minister of Natural Resources armando Otero of Puerto Rico said scientists have been trying to save Puerto Rican crested toads for decades, the first time in vitro fertilization techniques have been used. "This is a major step forward for critically endangered species, as zoo staff, scientists and natural resource conservationists can use this method to expand the genetic population of these species without affecting the toad's survival in nature and wildlife."

The Puerto Rican crested toad is critically endangered and was once thought to be extinct. The toad, which lives mostly in southern U.S. Puerto Rico and has disappeared from the north since 1992, is increasingly fearful of whether it can withstand the test of climate change.

In the southwestern coastal town of Guanica, crested toads are the most stable, but rising sea levels pose a threat to their habitat, Barber said. Puerto Rican toads live near beaches, and scientists worry that in the coming years, saltwater will seep into the ponds they use to breed.

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