Fifteen Afia Birago’s puddle froglets have hatched at London Zoo, the first time this critically endangered species has been born under human care. The Zoological Society of London announced the births on Oct. 13. Each froglet is about five millimeters long, roughly the size of a pencil tip. ZSL described the arrival as a milestone in a conservation effort involving partners in Ghana.
Image note: The accompanying Pexels photo is illustrative stock; it does not depict Afia Birago’s puddle frogs or the London Zoo breeding programme.
The work began with 20 adult frogs brought from Ghana to London in September 2025. ZSL says an action plan was formed that month as the species faced an imminent risk of extinction. The partners had little experience caring for this amphibian, and specialized equipment was difficult to source locally. The transfer gave keepers time to learn about the frogs while conservation work in Ghana continued.
ZSL amphibian keeper Unnar Aevarsson said that almost nothing was known about the frogs when they arrived. The London team developed husbandry techniques and breeding protocols as it learned how to meet their needs. The successful births show that the animals can reproduce under human care. ZSL and BBC News report that adult frogs weigh less than 1.75 grams. Scientists formally described the species in 2018.
The frogs are known from Ghana’s Atewa Hills Forest Reserve, where ZSL says they survive in just two perennial pools. Mining is destroying habitat in the area, according to the organization. The documented range and habitat pressure are central parts of the challenge facing the species.
The frog’s name honors Afia Birago, the mother of Ghanaian conservationist Caleb Ofori-Boateng. He helped describe the species and is a regional project manager for ZSL’s EDGE programme. Its name recognizes Ofori-Boateng’s mother, while the breeding work connects scientific care in London with conservation efforts in the species’ native region.
The London work was designed to connect with conservation efforts in Ghana. Before the frogs arrived, Aevarsson traveled to the country to gather information about their natural environment and help establish a conservation breeding facility in Kumasi. ZSL describes it as the first facility in West Africa dedicated to amphibian conservation breeding. The field information helped inform the frogs’ new home at London Zoo.
Knowledge from the London programme is now being shared with colleagues at the CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana’s breeding centre in Kumasi. Herp Conservation Ghana is also part of the partnership. ZSL says the long-term aim is to establish sustainable conservation populations in Ghana, using experience from the London breeding work alongside local facilities and expertise.
A separate part of the effort is still exploratory. Anthony Churcher, a ZSL EDGE Fellow who is part of Herp Conservation Ghana, is investigating possible habitat on private land around the Atewa Hills that could support future releases of frogs bred in Ghana. The site search is ongoing; ZSL describes releases as a future possibility, not a completed step in this project.
London Zoo says visitors can see the conservation programme at its Secret Life of Reptiles and Amphibians exhibit, where the specialist team cares for the frogs. The exhibit lets visitors learn about work underway in London and with partners in Ghana. ZSL says the work to save the species has only just begun, so the births are one milestone within a longer conservation effort.
The result follows another breeding milestone in the same region. BBC News notes that London Zoo bred the Atewa slippery frog, another critically endangered species from the Atewa Hills, for the first time in 2025. The two species are different, but both are part of a wider effort focused on threatened amphibians from Ghana.
For a species documented by science only eight years ago, the births add a practical piece of knowledge: these frogs can breed under human care. The partnership is working toward conservation populations in Ghana, while researchers examine whether nearby habitat could support future releases. Those steps remain ahead; the Oct. 13 announcement records the first captive births, not a completed recovery.
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