DN English Magazine issue 3

Phyllobates bicolor

An article written by a hobbyist who keeps and breeds this Colombian frogs for 4 years now. He gives us a look into his methods of keeping and breeding these true poison dart frogs.

Brazil, Cristalino's Dendrobates

A traveling story by Han Peper and his wife Anja de Baas with breath taking pictures.       They take us with them on their journey to Cristalino, the Brasilian amazone.                      This article tells us about their trip, with a highlight of their journey....an illusive yellow galactonotus, which probably is a completely new species.

Cauca Valley, Colombia

The zoos of Zürich, Switzerland, and Cali, Colombia have entered into a cooperative relationship aimed at conservation of amphibians in Valle del Cauca (Cauca Valley). As elsewhere, the amphibians in this valley are badly affected by biotope destruction, pesticide use, capture by animal traders, and of course, the infamous chytridiomycosis fungus, which is present here as well. Present on the site in Colombia is Dendrobatidae Nederlands member Fred Vosse, assisting at manufacturing and furnishing terrariums. The author of this article visited Cali and Zürich to see how this initiative is taking shape

Epipedobates in Ecuador

The western and northwestern parts of Ecuador are home to three Epipedobates species. Generally speaking, these are very shy animals that you will very rarely see, even though you will hear them all around you in the field. Some of you may be familiar with Epipedobates boulengeri, an animal available in hobby circles that is sometimes offered on DN events.We would like to use this second article on Epipedobates to introduce these three species to you.

Agalychnis Callidryas

This article is written by an hobbyist, in his greenhouse he already raised hundreds of these wonderfull tree frogs. Now he likes to share his story about his care and breeding succes with us.

Sapo pingo de ouro

As a matter of course, being poison dart frog enthusiasts, each of us is familiar with the abundance of dazzling colours present among the Dendrobatidae, but many of us have also developed an interest for Madagascan Mantellas. Unsurprisingly, many a holiday has been spent in South America and Madagascar, leading to a host of encounters with brilliantly coloured frogs. Even so, there are still considerable numbers of colourful frogs that are much more obscure to most of us.

Scientific news

Yet again. Erik H. Poelman provides us with interestin scientific news.

A small selection of this issue:

• Epipedobates darwinwallacei
• Hyloxalus italoi
• Poison as protection against colour blind predators
• Preservation of colour variety within populations
• Competition for deposit locations.

Allobates talamancae 

The inconspicuous Allobates talamancae (Colosthetus talamancae) has been around in the hobby for many years. Fortunately, these little known and often less popular frogs have withstood the test of time, managing to secure their place within the hobby. Their numbers may not be impressive, but this is not strictly necessary for these animals in terms of hobbyist availability. All it takes is a few enthusiasts willing to offer them accommodation, which luckily has been the case so far. Remco Stuster feels it is about time to have a closer look at these wonderful whistlers.

Mantella Species Studbook

Mantellas are a genus of frogs which is endemic to only Madagascar, with all 16 species having been reviewed under the IUCN Red List.  The species range in status from Least Concern right up to Critically Endangered with the majority having a decreasing population trend under threat primarily from logging through its range to make way for agricultural land and human settlement.  Such population trends have been known about for some time, with the Golden Mantella (Mantella aurantiaca) being listed as vulnerable since 1996.  Breeding efforts have been made with this species for some time but it is important for all species within this genus to have guided breeding projects centred around them.

Oophaga granulifera

Jan and Ina Tuns tell about this beautifull little frogs they regularly observed in the wild.     (editor's note: this species is not imported legally; any animals presently on offer have probably been imported illegally.)

Maart 2011 Juni 2011