The frog was found by a biologist DECOIN hired to undertake an amphibian inventory in the Junin community-owned forest reserve in a project supported by Rainforest Concern. He was only able to find two females and two males, but speculated that there would be healthy populations in other isolated areas of the forests. He also believed that, with enough time, several other new and “extinct” species would be discovered. In the five days quick inventory, the biologist went on to find eight more frog species on the IUCN Red List of threatened species. Three of the frogs are now in an amphibian center in Quito where they hope to establish a breeding programme, even though 25 of each sex is usually required for successful reproduction. Unfortunately, a fourth specimen died while at the lab. The 1500 hectare reserve where the frogs were found is one of the first forest reserves that DECOIN,with help from Rainforest Concern and other donors, purchased for the community in 1997-1998.
In spite of this success story, it is worthwhile calling attention to the fact that only three individuals of this species are known to exist on Earth. And they were found in a forest threatened by total and irreversible annihilation, a forest which holds many more critically endangered and threatened species.
