NEWS

The record sightings of Malabar tree toad by citizen scientists has increased. Since 2014, over 100 ‘citizen scientists’ have recorded 201 observations from various locations in Kerala, Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka

MALABAR TREE TOAD

• Also known as warty Asian tree toad
• Species of toad found in forests along the Western Ghats of India south of Goa
• Found in wet tree hollows or leaf bases containing water
• Endangered species
• Spends most of its life on trees, coming to the ground only during the first monsoon showers to mate
• Found only in the evergreen forests of the Western Ghats and nowhere else in the world
• Can be sighted only when they descend to the ground at the beginning of the Southwest monsoon to breed in forest streams
• Found across Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu
• Threats – deforestation, forest fragmentation, and changing weather patterns due to global climate change