Visiting Saratoga National Fish Hatchery (13890103837)

Description :

Description: In April of 2014, regional office employees visited Saratoga National Fish Hatchery to learn more about its efforts towards recovering the Wyoming toad (Bufo baxteri). The hatchery adopted a unique role in becoming the first unit in the National Fish Hatchery System to become involved in rearing endangered amphibians. The Wyoming toad was a common sight on areas of the Laramie Plains, Albany County, Wyoming, into the early 1970s but the species' populations crashed in the mid-1970s. The Wyoming toad was listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in January 1984. Found only in southwestern Wyoming, the Wyoming toad is considered the most endangered amphibian in North America. The hatchery maintains a captive population for breeding, rearing, and refugia, and the offspring from this program will be used for reintroduction efforts. Photo Credit: Bridget Fahey / USFWS. Date: 22 April 2014, 22:49. Source: Visiting Saratoga National Fish Hatchery. Author: USFWS Mountain-Prairie.