Unpleasantly surprised at the Bronx zoo

[Frogman1031]

Hi everyone! Went to the Bronx zoo today which is always a good time. But i must say that i was furious at the way they kept their frogs! They were keeping Dendrobates Arzureus AND dendrobates auratus AND phyllobates terribilis AND dendrobates leucomelas AND most terrifying, red eyed tree frogs all together in an enclosure that couldnt be more than 90 gallons. They also had a cane toad in with the Anaconda! I have come to expect better of what is considered one of the best zoos in the world!

[Mentat]

Hum... heard before that zoos have mixed dart species exhibits; but a Cane Toad with an Anaconda !

[flybyferns]

that's really too bad.
I live on LI ( it's a 40 min drive) I have not been there in a few years .
I can't recall seeing anything like that though?

Did you get a chance to speak to anybody?

[Frogman1031]

Unfortunately not. I know for a fact that the cane toad has been there for a few years with the Anaconda. The dart frogs and Panamanian golden frogs are new. They sent the Coqui frogs back to their original keepers which are probably in Puerto Rico and replaced them with the golden frogs. They are at a lack of frogs and amphibians there. The only others are some mantellas and tomato frogs. Thats it

[poison]

Anacondas are not amphibian eaters so you don't have to worry about that but there is always the chance that the frogs toxins end up in the water source.

[Frogman1031]

I still think that the poor little cane toad might be scared out of his mind.

[LilyPad]

I agree with you, Eli, I can't imagine the stress levels. Have you considered sending them an email?

I went to the DNR exhibit at our state fair over the weekend. I was stressed to see a box turtle, 2.5-4 inch american toad, and 2 grey tree frogs (1" and 2") all crammed together in the same set up. It was probably a 75 gal, 24 inches tall tank. But the substrate was about 10 inches deep leaving very little space for the tree frogs to get out of the way of that huge toad. The box turtle was buried and the temps in the tank were around 90. They had one small water dish to share. Completely frustrating!!!

[Bombina Bob]

When facilities like these house animals in unacceptable ways, use Lynn's advice by sending
the email. But its frustrating because zoos and aquariums should be role models for good husbandry
and health at these places.

Someone should talk to Frank about this!

[tgampper]

To be perfectly honest, amphibians take a back seat to the other animals. Most people go to the zoo to see the fuzzy, large and obnoxious beasts, not a bunch of frogs and toads. When it comes to budgetary concerns, once again, amphibians get the short end. When I worked at the Omaha Zoo as an amphibian keeper, I cared for hundreds of frogs and salamanders. Many of the species are critically endangered and a couple are extinct in the wild. I have a passion for amphibians, but the other staff, not so much. What I am trying to say is that zoos do the best they can with the resources they have. By the way, being an animal keeper is a lot of hard work, low pay and not very glorious unless you like cleaning tons of poo

[LLLReptile]

There may also have been other factors not easily seen from the viewing side of things. Maybe an alternative enclosure was being rebuilt or worked on, maybe there was an emergency with the cage the frogs were usually in, maybe the keepers are trying something new with regards to who inhabits what territory or space in the enclosure. The zoo knows what's going on behind the scenes, we don't, and it's unfair to bash on their practices if the frogs look healthy and act normally....which I'm betting they are at least still eating and fat looking. Same with the cane toad; while we may consider that less than ideal, I'm sure after a couple years, if the toad was too stressed, it would have stopped feeding or otherwise exhibited that somehow. If after a couple years it is still happily coexisting with an anaconda...well, clearly, the toad really doesn't mind that much.

No, it may not be ideal, but the suggestion to write to them and ask about it, rather than complain on a forum, is more reasonable and understanding of the fact that we don't know everything that they have going on, and can't know if there was a completely valid reason they were housing the animals like that.

-Jen