Tomato frog  (Dyscophus antongilii)

Numbers of the tomato frog have been declining as a result of habitat degradation and pollution and the over-collection of these brightly coloured amphibians for the pet trade (4). Collecting activity, and the associated decline in population, was predominately focused near to the town of Maroantsetra (6). The tomato frog was rapidly included on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in response to this pressure (6).

Research into captive breeding techniques has been carried out by Baltimore Zoo in the United States in an effort to boost the currently small and genetically deprived captive population that exists in that country (4). A consortium of U.S. zoos that form the Madagascar Fauna Group (MFG) (8) have established an exhibit at the Parc Zoologique Ivoloina, Madagascar in an attempt to help educate local people about this attractive member of their natural heritage (4). Very little is known about the tomato frog and further research into its distribution, behaviour and potential threats is urgently needed before effective conservation measures can be put into place (6). It is currently listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), but this move has been criticised by some authors as an ineffective strategy and one that has undermined the status of the unlisted D. guineti (9). Furthermore, research is needed to determine if D. antongilii is in fact a separate species or merely a variant of D. guineti (6).