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THE OBSERVER (London, UK) 28 November 04 Mallorcan midwife toad saved from extinction (Robin McKie)
One of the world's strangest animals, the Mallorcan midwife toad, has been rescued from the brink of extinction. The success provides conservationists with a rare boost to their hopes that amphibians - whose numbers are decliningalarmingly across the world - can saved from oblivion.
Researchers based at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, in Jersey announced last week that the toad had been removed from biologists' 'critically endangered' category: it is now rated as merely 'vulnerable'. 'This incredible little toad was once thought extinct. Today it's on the road to survival,' said Quentin Bloxam, the trust's programme director.
The Mallorcan midwife was originally thought to have gone extinct several thousand years ago. Scientists knew of its existence only from fossils found in Mallorca. Then, in 1980, they found living samples in the island's Sierra de Traumuntana mountains.
The species is an isolated member of the midwife toad family whose homelands extend across Europe and whose members distinguish themselves in the startling way they bring up their offspring. Females lay eggs like a string of pearls, whereupon males wind them around their back legs, carrying them throughout their incubation period. At the point of hatching, the eggs are released into a suitable body of water to begin their tadpole stage.
Midwives had happily made homes for themselves in Mallorca until changes in water and land use and the introduction of snakes, which hunted the toads. An emergency plan was was launched.
Durrell Wildlife took 20 toads to its headquarters in Jersey to begin a breeding programme and 76 Jersey-born tadpoles were returned to Mallorca in 1989. There are now 19 sustainable populations, spread over 200 square kilometres.
Mallorcan midwife toad saved from extinction

THANKS I ENJOYED READING THAT
hobosam