Not conclusively humanity's fault with this one: it was already restricted to an extremely small 4 square km range within a 105 square km protected area without direct human disturbance, and its disappearance is well-documented, though the actual cause isn't conclusive.
It's thought their extinction is linked to a harsh El Niño event that delayed and heavily reduced the seasonal rainfall they relied upon in multiple years, and while no direct evidence of chytrid fungus affecting the toads has been found, it's suspected as with every case of recent amphibian decline.
That being said, even though the root cause of its eventual extinction is attributed to man-made climate change and airborne pollution, it was always a very vulnerable species that could have been wiped out by a natural variation in the El Niño cycle regardless, and was unexpectedly reduced from around 1500 individuals to less than 20 in the course of a year; the most surefire way to protect it entirely would have been captive breeding, which unfortunately wasn't attempted at all...
I have been researching this species for over five years, and the Golden Toad’s extinction was definitely caused by humans. The Golden Toad is known to be the first species to go extinct due to human caused climate change. Due to the increasing temperatures El Niño worse, which continues to this day, creating the wrong bodies of water for this species to breed in. Not just that but after the first year of decline there were two individuals seen the next year.
Not conclusively humanity's fault with this one: it was already restricted to an extremely small 4 square km range within a 105 square km protected area without direct human disturbance, and its disappearance is well-documented, though the actual cause isn't conclusive.
It's thought their extinction is linked to a harsh El Niño event that delayed and heavily reduced the seasonal rainfall they relied upon in multiple years, and while no direct evidence of chytrid fungus affecting the toads has been found, it's suspected as with every case of recent amphibian decline.
That being said, even though the root cause of its eventual extinction is attributed to man-made climate change and airborne pollution, it was always a very vulnerable species that could have been wiped out by a natural variation in the El Niño cycle regardless, and was unexpectedly reduced from around 1500 individuals to less than 20 in the course of a year; the most surefire way to protect it entirely would have been captive breeding, which unfortunately wasn't attempted at all...
I have been researching this species for over five years, and the Golden Toad’s extinction was definitely caused by humans. The Golden Toad is known to be the first species to go extinct due to human caused climate change. Due to the increasing temperatures El Niño worse, which continues to this day, creating the wrong bodies of water for this species to breed in. Not just that but after the first year of decline there were two individuals seen the next year.
Human activity didn’t contribute to having such a small range?
No, like axolotls it already had an extremely limited range
This lil fella is a bit older than me
*Died a little bit before you were born
Utterly heartbreaking. 🥺
RIP cheeto toad :(
“In Costa Rica, in a burrow underground
Climb to the surface, blink my eyes and look around
I'm all alone here as I try my tiny song
Claim my place beneath the sky, but I won't be here for long
I sang all night; the moon shone on me through the trees
No brothers left, and there'll be no more after me”