The species is live-bearing and insectivorous. A species of tiny toads, which quickly became extinct in the wild after it was discovered in Tanzania, is thriving in a laboratory at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). This year’s IUCN Red List has updated its assessment of the Kihansi spray toad, moving the species from Critically Endangered to Extinct in the Wild. Abstract. A species of tiny toads, which quickly became extinct in the wild after it was discovered in Tanzania, is thriving in a laboratory at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). Kihansi spray toad facts. Scientific Name: Nectophrynoides asperginis Historic Range and Habitat: The Udzungwa Mountains of eastern Tanzania in a very small range that is in the spray zone of Kihansi Falls in the Kihansi Gorge. As the Kihansi Dam came into place the frogs had to leave their territory as the Dam had taken it. The Kihansi spray toad (Nectophrynoides asperginis) was declared extinct in the wild in … But due to the construction of a dam which funded by the World Bank, the waterfall has been disrupted,… Once considered to be extinct in the wild, the Kihansi spray toad has been the subject of intensive conservation measures and has now been successfully reintroduced to the wild. A small toad of just two centimetres in length, the Kihansi spray toad is endemic to a two-hectare area of Kihansi Gorge in Tanzania. The dam reduced the amount of silt and water coming down from the waterfall into the gorge by 90 percent. The Kihansi Spray Toad, which ranges from just 1 to 1.5 inches in length, is believed to have lived only under a 3,000 foot waterfall on the Kihansi River in southeastern Tanzania. Previous 10 Animals that are Extinct in the Wild, but are Grown in Captivity A diminutive Kihansi spray toad newborn rests on the back of an adult female. Extinct in the Wild: Kihansi Spray Toad. […] Environmental science and conservation news. Now that it has returned to its restored habitat, the Kihansi spray toad represents the world's first reintroduction of an extinct-in-the-wild amphibian." Classified as Extinct in the Wild on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, the Kihansi Spray Toad (Nectophrynoides asperginis) is the focus of conservation efforts involving the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC) Amphibian Specialist Group and the IUCN SSC Re-introduction Specialist Group. ESF scientists are studying the Kihansi spray toads in an effort to find ways to safely reintroduce the animals to the Kihansi River Gorge in southeastern Tanzania. The Kihansi spray toad is little more than an inch in length. Together with a collaboration of a number of partners … Two American zoos have helped to save an African amphibian from extinction. The Kihansi spray toad, a species that lives exclusively in the spray of Tanzanian waterfalls, has already been documented as extinct in the wild. The Kihansi spray toad used to live in the spray region of the Kihansi waterfall, in Tanzania, and relied heavily on the spray from the waterfall to maintain a constant temperature and humidity in its environment. The Kihansi spray toad used to live in the Kihansi River Gorge, which is located in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania. Environmental science and conservation news. A tiny toad, previously found only under a 3,000 Tanzania waterfall, went extinct in the wild, but is thriving in a lab in Syracuse, NY. The small, yellowish toad once occurred in large numbers but was only found in a verdant, moist five-acre microhabitat in the Kihansi gorge of Tanzania. The Kihansi spray toad, Nectophrynoides asperginis, became extinct in the wild despite population monitoring and conservation management of its habitat in the Kihansi gorge, Tanzania.Anecdotal evidence has indicated human induced habitat modification, predators, pesticides and disease as possible causes of a rapid population decline and the species extirpation. ESF scientists are studying the Kihansi spray toads in an effort to find ways to safely reintroduce the animals to the Kihansi River Gorge in southeastern Tanzania. They now live in a refugee in 6 separate U.S.A zoos thanks to … Kihansi frogs, Chura wa kihansi (in Swahili), Nectophrynoides asperginis (Scientific name), is a small toad endemic to Tanzania. The Kihansi Spray Toad, Nectophrynoides asperginis,is listed as ‘Extinct in the Wild’ on the IUCN Redlist of Threatened Species.It was only known from one locality: in the spray zone of the Kihansi Falls in the Kihansi Gorge, of the Udzungwa Mountains, of eastern Tanzania.