With help from the local community around A Rocha’s Brooksdale Environmental Centre, an important breeding pond for Western Toad has been confirmed as part of this summer’s surveys for several species at risk found in the Little Campbell River watershed.
Globally, Western Toads are found from northern Mexico to southern Alaska. In Canada, they are found in British Columbia, Alberta, and the Yukon. Although the species is still relatively widespread across its Canadian range, it is vulnerable to disturbance from human development. Furthermore, US populations are declining rapidly making the Canadian populations even more important for the species. The Western Toad is one of several amphibian species which has been placed on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (also knows as the IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, a global list of the plants and animals most threatened with extinction.
The Western Toad is also blue-listed in BC and has been listed as a Species of Special Concern under the Canadian Species at Risk Act since 2005. Part of the vulnerability of this species to disturbance is the fact that adults congregate and breed in communal pond breeding sites, from which juveniles then disperse once they have developed from egg to tadpole to toadlet.
