The key facts

  • 15 Afia Birago's puddle frog froglets bred in captivity at London Zoo for the first time
  • The species was only described by science in 2018 and lives in just two water bodies in Ghana threatened by mining
  • Breeding expertise is being shared with the CSIR Forestry Research Institute in Kumasi

World's first captive breeding

London Zoo has for the first time bred the critically endangered Afia Birago's puddle frog. According to the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), 15 froglets measuring about 5 mm — roughly the size of the tip of a pencil — have hatched. ZSL said that, as far as is known, no other zoo or institution in the world keeps this species.

Rescue programme from Ghana

Twenty adult frogs were brought to London in September 2025 so that specialists could learn how to care for and breed them, and then pass this knowledge on to Ghanaian conservation organisations. The species lives in the Atewa Forest Reserve in Ghana, where, according to ZSL, it survives in only two water bodies, both of which are threatened by mining activity.

A little-studied species

The species was only described by scientists in 2018. An adult frog weighs less than 1.75 g. According to ZSL, almost nothing was known about the animals when they arrived in London, but keepers have since developed breeding techniques, which they are sharing with the breeding centre of the CSIR Forestry Research Institute in Kumasi, Ghana. The goal is to establish a population in Ghana that can be released into the wild.

Named after a mother

Ghanaian conservationist Caleb Ofori-Boateng, who took part in describing the species, named the frog after his mother, Afia Birago. "I named this frog after my mother so that her legacy would continue to live on. Thanks to this breeding programme, it will continue. Her name will be associated with a species we saved, not one we lost," he said.

Curator on the significance of the event

Ben Tapley, curator of reptiles and amphibians at ZSL, which runs the zoo in central London, noted: "They may be small enough to fit on a fingertip, but their arrival is a huge step forward for an amphibian facing an uncertain future."

A second success for the Atewa reserve

This event follows the zoo's success in November last year, when another critically endangered frog from the same forest — the Atewa slippery frog — was bred in captivity for the first time.

A tiny brown froglet sits on an orange leaf next to the sharpened tip of a pencil, which is roughly the same sizeImage source, ZSL
Image caption,

At about 5mm long, the froglets are about the size of the tip of a pencil

two tiny brown froglets on a green leafImage source, ZSL
Penguin standing on a scale as a keeper kneels next to it with a clipboard to record its details at annual weigh-in.A tiny dormouse is held in hands. It sits on the 2/3 of three fingers of someone wearing surgical gloves. The dormouse has its eyes closed