Fifteen rare Afia Birago’s puddle frogs have been born at London Zoo, marking a major milestone in conservation efforts to save one of the world’s smallest amphibians from extinction.
Afia Birago’s puddle frog (Phrynobatrachus afiabirago) weighs less than 1.75g fully grown and each froglet is currently no bigger than the tip of a pencil.
The species was formally described eight years ago but has since been found to survive in just two pools in Ghana’s Atewa Hills Forest Reserve – a biodiversity hotspot that faces threats from bauxite mining – and is currently classified as Critically Endangered.
In 2025, 20 adult frogs arrived at the zoo from Ghana as part of a collaborative conservation effort with Herp Conservation Ghana and the CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana. The froglets are the first of their species to be born under human care.
“When the adult frogs arrived in London last year, almost nothing was known about them,” explains Unnar Aevarsson, an amphibian keeper at London Zoo.
“Our team have since learned so much more about these incredible frogs – developing the knowledge, techniques and breeding protocols needed to give them the best chance of survival.
“These 5mm long froglets are cause for celebration, but our work to save Afia Birago’s puddle frog has only just begun: the wider goal now is for our partners to establish sustainable conservation populations in Ghana that can support their recovery in the wild – these births make that a real possibility.”
Before the adult frogs’ arrival, Aevarsson travelled to Ghana to help set up a conservation breeding facility in the city of Kumasi and gather information about the frogs’ natural environment that the London Zoo team needed to establish their new home.
Knowledge gained from the breeding programme is being shared with colleagues working at the Kumasi facility, helping to establish a population in Ghana. Habitat options on private land surrounding the Atewa Hills Forest Reserve are also being investigated into whether it could support releases of frogs bred in Ghana.
“I named this frog after my mother so that her legacy would live on,” says conservationist and ZSL EDGE regional project manager Caleb Ofori-Boateng, who helped to scientifically describe the frog.
“Thanks to this breeding programme, it will. Her name will be linked to a species we saved, not one we lost.”
Top image: Afia Birago’s puddle frogs at London Zoo in relation to a pencil. Credit: Ben Tapley ZSL
