3 days ago
Brookfield Zoo Chicago helps save endangered toad thanks to Bad Bunny
The Brief
Brookfield Zoo Chicago is helping to save the endangered Puerto Rican Crested Toad.
Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny has brought attention to the effort to save the toads.
The toad is something of a local mascot for Puerto Ricans, and Bad Bunny featured one in videos for his latest album.
BROOKFIELD, Ill. - The bunny and the toad may sound like a children's story. But it's a real-life tale at the center of an effort at Brookfield Zoo Chicago to save the rare Puerto Rican Crested Toad from extinction.
And now that effort is getting a big boost from Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny.
Local perspective
Brookfield Zoo Lead Animal Care Specialist Mike Masellis showed Fox 32 two of the 30 Puerto Rican Crested Toads they keep at the zoo as part of a breeding and conservation program that's been going on for years.
This year, they mated two pairs of the toads, which produced 1,762 tadpoles that have already been shipped to Puerto Rico and released into the wild.
"We're well over 25,000 tadpoles released since we've been participating in the program," said Masellis. "So it's good to know that animals here can have an impact on the animals in the wild as well."
Why you should care
Brookfield is one of 20 zoos across the country involved in this conservation effort, which is critically needed.
At one point, the toads were thought to be extinct in Puerto Rico.
They are the only species of toad native to the island, but have been decimated by habitat loss, climate change and competition from invasive toad species.
"If they were to go extinct, that would be a major loss of kind of the natural heritage of Puerto Rico," said Masellis.
The Crested Toad and the efforts to save it weren't very well known until recently, when Bad Bunny featured them on his latest album. The rapper also produced a short documentary about the loss of Puerto Rican culture and wildlife.
That video featured an animated Puerto Rican Crested Toad that interacts with real-life characters. Since the video's release, the toad has turned into an overnight cultural sensation.
"Which is great, because critically endangered animals, particularly small animals, like toads and invertebrates and fishes, really need all the attention they can get," Masellis said. "Because so many of the endangered species out there in the world are maybe non-descriptive. Cute to me, I guess, but not to everybody."
It's unclear whether Bad Bunny knows about the efforts being made at the Brookfield Zoo to preserve the toad. But Masellis said he has a standing invitation to see the program.
"We have a large off-island Puerto Rican population here," he said. "So I think it's important to connect with the various communities in the Chicagoland area to feature animals that are culturally significant as well."
