Conservation of Apennine yellow-bellied toad

The Apennine yellow-bellied toad (Bombina pachypus) is an amphibian endemic to Italy listed as Endangered by IUCN RedList. 

 

Most populations are reduced to 6-20 individuals.

 

We report a restocking project in two demes that suffered dramatic declines with population size <10 individuals.

 

The threats for the species at the study sites were pool desiccation and habitat alteration by Wild boars.

 

Populations size remained stable in 2005-2013. In 2012, two actions were implemented to mitigate the threats: 1) additional pools were built and fed by springs to avoid desiccation; 2) each pool was fenced to prevent Wild boars from using the pools. After two years, no population growth was observed.

 

We started a four-year (2014-2017) project aimed at increasing the population size through restocking of individuals raised in ex-situ facilities. Overall, 67 young toads were released.