Development of in-country live food production for amphibian conservation: The Mountain Chicken Frog ( Leptodactylus fallax ) on Dominica, West Indies.

摘要

Amphibian populations are in global decline. Conservation breeding programs (CBPs) are a toolused to prevent species extinctions. Ideally, to meet biosecurity, husbandry and other requirements, CBPsshould be conducted within the species’ geographic range. A particular issue with in-country amphibian CBPsis that of live food supply. In many areas, such as oceanic islands, commonly cultured food species used byzoos throughout the world cannot be used, as escapes are certain to occur and could lead to the introductionof alien, and potentially highly destructive, invasive species. Here, we describe the establishment of live foodcultures for the Critically Endangered Mountain Chicken Frog (Leptodactylus fallax) at a conservation breedingfacility on the Caribbean island of Dominica. Not all invertebrate species were suitable for long-term cultureand several species were rejected by captive L. fallax, making them unsuitable as food items. Despite the CBPbeing established within a range state, it was not possible to provide a diet of comparable variety to that of wildL. fallax. Our experiences may provide guidance for the establishment of live food culture systems for otherconservation breeding programs elsewhere.