How Biologists Track The Most Endangered Amphibian In North America

The Wyoming toad is the most endangered amphibian in North America.

A lethal combination of insecticides, climate change, disease, and increased predation, has brought the two-inch toad to the brink.

As part of the recovery effort, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has outfitted some toads with teeny-tiny backpacks to track their whereabouts in the wild. The backpacks hold a radio transmitter that tells biologists where the toads are roaming. The picture below, tweeted by the U.S. Department of Interior, shows one toad all dressed up and ready to go.

This is one of many ways the forest service is trying to save the Wyoming toad. Prescribed burning — when patches of prairie are deliberately set on fire — has also been used give the toad a warm environment in order for them to breed. Roughly 40,000 tadpoles and toadlets have also been released into the wild as part of a captive breeding program, according to the USFWS.