The Victoria Butterfly Gardens is now home to a fresh collection of 40 dart frogs. A couple of months ago, the gardens sourced the dart frogs from a private breeder. Originally, the frogs were kept in an enclosure for the visitors to observe, but they realized the climate of their greenhouse was the exact climate of the terrariums they were keeping the frogs in. Days after the frogs were released into the greenhouse, they proved themselves and started breeding. “They’re very happy in the environment. The last batch of frogs that we ended up getting, we ended up just releasing the majority of them into the gardens themselves, and they’ve been settling in the gardens for the past couple of weeks now,” Travis Budgeon, horticulturist at Victoria Butterfly Gardens, told Peninsula News Review. Dart frogs, which are originally from the Amazon rainforest, are usually poisonous. They have one golden dart frog, which is part of the Phyllobates species, that has enough poison to kill up to 10 humans. Budgeon explained that the level of toxicity varies based on the frog’s specific diet. “Their poison originates from a diet of ants, millipedes and mites that they feed on in their natural habitat in the Amazon. That’s where they’re getting their toxicity. Now, any dart frog that’s in captivity, because of their food source, like for here, for instance, we feed them a species of flightless fruit fly for their diet, and they are no longer poisonous,” Budgeon added. Victoria Butterfly Gardens has 40 new dart frogs for visitors to see. (Courtesy of Victoria Butterfly Gardens) A special requirement for the dart frogs is to have a wet aquatic area. Humidity in their greenhouse is almost optimal for them because they have several water features installed to make sure humidity rarely dips below 60 per cent. “Ideally, for a captive dart frog to be put into an environment like this is like a dream come true as far as I’m concerned.” Approximately 40 dart frogs of several subspecies are being released into their greenhouse. “There’s a soundscape in our gardens that we didn’t even know we were missing. You walk through our gardens and, along with the birds and along with all the animals making noises, you’re also hearing this constant chittering noise from all sites, all areas of the garden. It just makes it almost surreal.” Another intention of bringing the dart frogs into their rainforest environment is to create awareness about their existence and conservation aspects, because they are losing a vast area of their natural habitat. “A lot of people need to be aware of these things. We’re educating a lot of our guests regarding a lot of these wild species and how they are becoming endangered. I find seeing it firsthand, seeing it one-on-one, up close and personal, it really kind of resonates with a lot of people.” Budgeon said that the frogs in their greenhouse are becoming a little bit more street smart, so they are asking the guests to be cautious when walking through the gardens because they haven’t figured out where to cross paths yet. “They’re a little bit all over the place, but most of the time they’re spending time in the actual gardens themselves. It’s an exciting opportunity for a lot of our guests because they get to walk through, and these dart frogs are out and about.” “We’re just really excited to share these creatures with all of our guests, and we’re really looking forward to expanding people’s knowledge and educating the populace about these beautiful, beautiful creatures.”
More
Less
