2022 Start-Up Grant: Establishment of insurance population for Pithecopus rusticus

Pithecopus rusticus was described in 2014 and is a Brazilian endemic, restricted to a single site, with a maximum number of 34 individuals observed. It has not yet been evaluated on the global Red List, but at the national level in Brazil it is evaluated as Critically Endangered (CE). 

Grantee: Benjamin Phalan

The species is vulnerable to a range of threats including drainage, pesticide pollution, alteration of habitat by cattle, and possibly climate change and drought. Extensive searches for the species in other apparently suitable sites in the region have not located any additional populations. Individuals have been recorded with Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (chytrid fungus).

The need for an ex situ population was identified in a Conservation Needs Assessment in 2020. This insurance population was started with the capture of two adult individuals in early 2022 and these were transported to Parque das Aves, in collaboration with Instituto Claravis, São Paulo Zoo, ICMBio and the Federal University of Santa Maria.

The purpose of this proposal is to construct additional facilities that will enable the expansion of this ex situ population into a functional insurance population, which serves as a backup in case of the possible extinction of the species in the wild, and to keep options open for future reintroduction or population reinforcement. This is the first amphibian species maintained at Parque das Aves, but we are fortunate to have the close support of São Paulo Zoo, an institution with extensive experience with amphibian husbandry.