SALIDA, Colo.—The Colorado Division of Wildlife is recruiting volunteers to look for endangered boreal toads during treks to mountain lakes and ponds this summer.
Training begins Thursday in Salida (suh-LY’-duh) for volunteers interested in helping researchers catalog which spots might have boreal toads.
The amphibians were once common throughout the southern Rocky Mountains but are now considered an endangered species in Colorado and New Mexico as their numbers have fallen. The amphibians are considered a protected species in Wyoming.
Researchers believe the population decline could be due to a fungus that invades the thin, permeable skin of amphibians and may interrupt their ability to absorb oxygen through their skin.
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Information from: The Pueblo Chieftain,
