News / Animals
World’s most deadly frogs bred in Bristol
Dozens of the world’s most toxic frogs have been successfully bred by conservationists at Bristol Aquarium.
The aquarium’s Olivia Orchart said it was a particularly difficult challenge as the poison dart frogs have a “complex lifecycle which is difficult to replicate in captivity”.
The tadpoles were raised for two months in the aquarium’s ‘paddling pool’.
Toxic secretions from the frogs are used by indigenous people to poison the tips of blow darts during hunting.
However, the phantasmal frog is near to extinction in the wild and is now only found in parts of Ecuador, in South America.
The amphibians develop their toxicity from their diet and scientists have discovered that an extract from the skin blocks pain 200 times more effectively than morphine
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