The Golden Toad/Sapo Dorado R.I.P.
A mission to discover whether any of 100 amphibian species believed to be extinct are still alive has ended with few successes to report.The five-month project took researchers to 21 countries; but only four of the targeted 100 were found. Researchers describe these as "glimmers of hope" in a group of animals severely threatened by changing land use, disease, pollution and climate change.
Particularly galling was the failure to find the golden toad of Costa Rica, which was once so prevalent in Montverde. This beautiful and iconic animal is believed to have been killed off by the fungal disease chytridiomycosis and hasn't been seen for over 20 years.
So I guess it's fair to say that it has probably croaked.
