History of dendrobatid frogkeeping

Encyclopedia : H : HI : HIS : History of dendrobatid frogkeeping

Yellow-banded Poison Dart frog Dendrobates leucomelas from Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil, in captivity in Bristol Zoo, England

Dendrobatid frogs have been maintained in captivity since the 1970s.

The first documented successful captive propagation of dendrobatids in the USA is an account by David Grow that describes breeding success for Dendrobates auratus at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, KansasGrow, D. 1977. Reproduction of Dendrobates auratus at the SCZ. Kansas Herpetological Society Newsletter 1977: 9-12. By the 1980s frogs were being kept by hobbyists and not just by zoos and scientific institutions.

Domestic frogkeepers were also active in Europe at this time. The 1977 International Zoo Yearbook states that Stuttgart Zoo bred Phyllobates bicolor bicolor and Basel Zoo bred Dendrobates auratus that year.

In the UK, the British Dendrobatid Group (BDG) was set up in 1989 by Bob Davies and Malcolm Peaker. Despite its name, the BDG was an international group of people concerned with one subject: the conservation and captive breeding of a small group of South American frogs belonging to the Dendrobates, Phyllobates, Colostethus and related genera such as Mantella spp.

There is evidence from publications that these frogs may have been maintained by private individuals in mainland Europe considerably earlier than thisPoulder, W.N. 1974. Pflege und Fortpflanzung von Dendrobates azureus an anderer Dendrobatiden II. Aquarien Terrarien Z. 27, 28-32.Ensinck, F. H. 1980. De kweek van Dendrobates tinctorius. Lacerta 38, (10-11):102-106. - starting in 1932Oeser, R. 1932. Die Zucht des Baumsteigers Dendrobates tinctorius. Bl. Aquar. Terrarienk. 43, 196-200..

References