Golden Poison frog
Phyllobates terribilis
Golden Poison frog
Phyllobates terribilis
CC goal
70 breeders
As at 05/2024
CC goal
225 animals
As at 05/2024
CC goal
70 breeders
As at 05/2024
CC goal
225 animals
As at 05/2024
It takes a considerable amount of self-confidence to hop across the rainforest floor as a froglet not even five centimeters long, basically a living appetizer, just like that, in the middle of the day, calmly, completely without cover.
Yellow alert
The golden poison frog, also known as golden dart frog or golden poison arrow frog, has every justification for this laissez-faire attitude: it is one of the most poisonous animals in the world. With the load of poison it carries around, it could easily kill 22,000 mice at one stroke – or six people. Its bright yellow coloration indicates this fact with appropriate clarity. Better not to touch it!
Live and let die
The bright yellow color of the golden poison frogs warns of their extremely potent venom.
The pitohui of New Guinea was the first known poisonous bird – the same Batrachotoxin as with golden poison arrow frog. Probable reason: similar food preferences of frog and bird.
Unfair! Similar deadly as batrachotoxin is the poison of some cube jellyfish – but they don't even think about warning humans, but drift inconspicuously off Australia's coast.
That's why the Australian authorities have to help out here. They warn of the invisible danger in the water in the most beautiful terribilis yellow.
Blue wonder: Whoever disturbs the blue-ringed octopus gets to see blue-ringed – normally the octopus appears more discreet. It uses the toxin tetrodotoxin, which, like the poison dart frog, it does not produce itself, but has symbiotic bacteria produce it.
The rough-skinned newt also shows at first glance that it is not good to eat newt – for its protection it also uses the tetrodotoxin.
The preparation of puffer fish (Fugus) is considered a culinary masterpiece in Japan because they also harbor tetrodotoxin. The poison even takes its name from these fish and sometimes makes their consumption a unique experience in every respect.
But no reproach to the puffer fish: it tries hard not to be swallowed.
Tetrodotoxin is also used by toads. This Panama stumpy foot toad warns of the toxin with the same color code as Phyllobates terribilis.
Phyllobates bicolor looks confusingly similar to the golden poison frog and is closely related to it. It too has been used to poison blowpipe darts. However, it contains batrachotoxin in much lower concentrations than its terrible relative.
The third in the group of arrow poison frogs actually used for poisoning arrows is the somewhat less dauntingly colored golden-striped treecreeper (Phyllobates aurotaenia), which also lives in Colombia.
The frog toxin
Batrachotoxin is the name of the poison that the terrible one keeps in stock in his skin secretion. Translated, it simply means “frog poison”. He can’t actively apply it, so you don’t have to be afraid of the tiny creature. The only thing you shouldn’t do is swallow it – and it’s better not to touch it either, because the poison can also exert its effect if it enters the body via small wounds or mucous membranes. The Colombian natives in the Chocó, where the frog is at home, made use of this property. They collected the frogs with leaves instead of protective gloves, kept them in a kind of impromptu terrarium in woven baskets with leaf litter, and swept their arrows across the frogs’ backs to poison them for hunting. Birds or monkeys that were hit would immediately fall from the tree if such a poisoned arrow caught them. The frogs, however, were released back into the wild after their work was done.
No protection against chainsaws
Citizen Conservation's story is closely intertwined with the golden poison frog
One of the early projects of Frogs & Friends, the inventors and now co-partners of CC, was a trip to the habitat of poison dwarfs in Colombia.
Arrival in Cali, Colombia. With them: Susan Knakowske and Björn Encke (center) from Frogs & Friends and Martin Bauert from Zurich Zoo. Their goal: to film Phyllobates terribilis in the wild.
The poison dwarfs cannot be reached by land. Loading the boat for the expedition in the port of Buenaventura.
Susan Knakowske is the director of the award-winning video reportage that Frogs & Friends features on its website: https://reportagen.frogs-friends.org/en/colombia
Arrival in Joaquincito, the closest village to the poison dwarf forest
Community meeting in Joaquincito – here the project is presented and the approval of the residents is obtained.
Departure to the habitat of poisonous frogs
Success: The team around biologist Carlos Galvis (left) from Cali Zoo is happy about the encounter with the poison dwarfs.
The trip also served to collect data from the field. Handling the highly toxic frogs must be done only with protective gloves.
Habitat of Phyllobates terribilis – this occurrence probably owes only to its use for poisoning blowpipe darts by the indigenous people of the region, who therefore probably once brought the frogs here as a "poison pet".
At the Cali Zoo, poison dart frogs from Joaquincito are being purposefully bred to preserve them for the future. Some of the frogs in Citizen Conservation's program also come from this population.
Inside the frog ark of Cali
The poison dwarfs only have a chance in nature if the coming generation of the people of Joaquincito also has one and preserves the forest. Until the visit of Frogs & Friends, the village lacked a modern motorboat.
A boat for Joaquincito: With a crowdfunding campaign and the prize money from the "Fast Forward Science" competition for the video reportage, Frogs & Friends financed the purchase for the community.
No protection against chainsaws
In this way, the golden poison frog has probably even expanded its naturally very small range – as a living poison supplier and temporary pet, it was brought to other areas by humans and was thus probably able to open up at least one new habitat. But this is of no use against its worst enemy: the chainsaw. The deforestation of the rainforests is also progressing at an alarming pace in the remote northwest of Colombia: in order to obtain valuable wood, to make room for agriculture or for mining. The already very small distribution area of less than 1,500 square kilometers, with only five known sites of this species, is under massive pressure. All the deterrent coloration is of no use – this unique frog is in danger of becoming homeless.
Although it can be bred so easily, a coordinated breeding project is lacking so far.
Toxic cuisine without ingredients
Both in zoos and among private frog breeders, the golden poison frog has long been a popular and frequently bred species. Their keepers, by the way, are in no danger – once taken from the rainforest, the frogs gradually lose their toxicity. The offspring is completely non-toxic. The reason: the frog cannot produce its “frog poison” on its own. It needs substances that it ingests from its prey – ants, mites, centipedes, beetles – and then assembles into batrachotoxin. Food animals in terraristics do not have this, which is why the frog quickly loses its fright.
The offspring of golden poison frogs in a terrarium – a hope for the highly endangered species. © Heiko Werning
Terrarium backup
Although it can be bred so easily, there has been a lack of a coordinated breeding project that pays attention to the genetic diversity of the reserve population as well as possible intermixtures of different forms. Citizen Conservation is working to establish such a coordinated breeding and is also trying to clarify the genetic background of the animals we keep in order to preserve this frog, unique in every way, as it has evolved in the Colombian rainforest: terribly beautiful!
For breeders
Basic information on biology and breeding
Also suitable for beginners in keeping poison dart frogs. A medium sized, constantly humid-warm, well planted rainforest terrarium is required. Feeding is done with fruit flies, small crickets and similar. Larvae are best reared individually in small water containers. Detailed breeding guidelines for download will follow shortly.