This World Wetlands Day, hear from WPY60’s Shane Gross on five fun facts about Western toad tadpoles, the subject of his Grand Title award-winning photograph. To capture ‘The Swarm of Life’, Shane snorkelled in Cedar Lake, Canada, for several hours through carpets of lily pads. Western toads are just one of over 100,000 species that call freshwater wetlands home across the globe. In total, it's estimated that 40% of the world's plant and animal species live in wetlands, despite covering only 6%

Our Wyoming toad tadpoles are growing up! They're starting to sprout legs and transform into tiny toadlets. At about one month old, they begin by growing their back legs first, followed by their front legs. Even though they all hatched around the same time, some tadpoles start developing legs a little sooner than others. They'll grow their back legs for a few weeks before their front legs appear. Once those front legs come in, it's only a matter of days before they hop onto dry land! Learn more

Swimming with hope! We love sharing conservation success stories, and we have some amazing news to report. The Wyoming Toad species nearly went extinct in 1994 due to factors like toxic pesticides that were used in their habitat. Scientists in Wyoming brought the last remaining wild toads into human care, and the Zoo is proud to be a facility that has participated in the reproduction and reintroduction of this critically endangered species. This year, our team produced a total of 6,521 tadpoles.

The Wyoming toad is extremely rare and exclusive to the Cowboy State. In Wyoming, it has been designated as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need, and is currently listed under the Endangered Species Act. To help restore the endemic toad species to their native habitat in the Laramie basin, captive bred toads are released annually. Species of Greatest Conservation Need are certain species within Wyoming that warrant additional conservation attention. Wyoming has many other Species of Greatest

And just like that, last week’s Wyoming toad eggs have become tiny tadpoles! 5,703 CMZoo-hatched tadpoles were released in Wyoming’s Laramie Basin yesterday. (Yes, we counted them all.) Others will stay at CMZoo to continue developing - later participating in our breeding program and/or being released to the wild as toads. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has supported Wyoming toad conservation since 1992. Since 2008, the Zoo has partnered with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and others to breed, raise and re