Taipei Zoo breeds over 2,000 endangered endemic frogs

Taipei, April 28 (CNA) Taipei Zoo said Tuesday that a captive breeding program for the Yuchi music frog (Nidirana shyhhuangi), an endangered species endemic to Taiwan, has raised more than 2,000 frogs since the conservation effort began in 2022.

The zoo made the announcement in a news release on "Save the Frogs Day," which aims to raise global awareness of amphibians at risk of extinction.

The zoo said the wild adult population of Yuchi music frogs, estimated at somewhere between 300 and 700, is confined to a total habitat area of just about 0.015 square kilometers in two wetlands in Yuchi Township, Nantou County.

The frog's small population is further threatened by agricultural pollution, waste dumping, deforestation, human disturbance and extreme weather, and it is currently designated as a Nationally Critically Endangered (NCR) species on Taiwan's Red List of Amphibians, the zoo said.

In 2022, researchers from the Taiwan Biodiversity Research Institute (TBRI) under the Ministry of Agriculture gave the zoo tadpoles they had saved from being left without a habitat due to a dry autumn.

After developing captive breeding techniques, the zoo said it started pairing adult Yuchi music frogs in the zoo in May 2023 with the aim of creating a stable population outside the species' under-threat habitats.

According to the zoo, the frog species' unique breeding behavior requires special conditions. Male frogs dig pot-shaped mud nests to call and attract females for breeding and egg-laying.

To support captive breeding, Taipei Zoo said its care team prepared moist, soft and adhesive soil, along with vegetation to provide a multilayered habitat.

An automated misting system maintains humidity, while overturned coconut shells serve as shelters, creating an environment in which male frogs feel secure enough to build nests.

The zoo said keepers observed that in such a well-concealed setting, male frogs appear less inclined to expend extra effort narrowing the openings of their mud nests, resulting in nests with wider entrances.

Although hatching rates for the eggs and tadpoles of the captive population remain a challenge, the zoo's Yuchi music frogs have shown a strong willingness to mate and lay eggs under the care of specialists in a dedicated breeding facility.

To date, at least 2,000 frogs have been raised in captivity, the zoo said.

It added that the Yuchi music frogs in Nantou were originally thought to be Kampira Falls frogs, an endangered species endemic to the southern Ryukyu islands of Ishigaki and Iriomote.

However, molecular, morphological and acoustic analysis published by Taiwanese researchers in February 2025 showed the frogs to be a newly identified species unique to Taiwan, the zoo said.