ALBANY COUNTY — Over a thousand Wyoming toads, North America’s most endangered amphibians, were released into the wild, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Nearly 1,125 adult toads, reared at the Saratoga and Leadville National Fish Hatcheries and the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, hopped free onto four volunteer’s privately-owned properties, a University of Wyoming agricultural facility, and the Mortenson Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

Once abundant on Wyoming’s Laramie Plains, the Wyoming toad population mysteriously crashed in the mid-1970s.

This toad release offers hope for wild breeding and population expansion and was made possible by more than 70 stakeholders and volunteers.