Micke Grove Zoo

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Golden Mantella frogs
Mantella aurantiaca

  • Habitat: Humid rainforests around Pandanus swamps
  • Range: Central Madagascar
  • Natural Diet: Insects (flies, ants and termites) and spiders
  • Status in the Wild: THREATENED

 

Fun Facts

  • Golden mantella frogs are bright golden-yellow in color, which is used to warn their predators that they are venomous or toxic when eaten.
  • They have very smooth skin. Most amphibians are able to conduct gaseous exchange through their skin. This is called cutaneous respiration
  • Females lay their eggs in small depressions containing water on moist moss or inside flowers.
  • Golden mantella have long, sticky tongues that they use to capture prey, sometimes even from a foot away.
  • They use they eyeballs to help them swallow since they eyeballs sink and apply pressure on the food.

 

Golden mantella frogs inhabit rainforests found around humid swamps in central Madagascar

 

 

Conservation Threats

  • The major threats are habitat loss due to urbanization, agricultural practices, and logging for firewood.
  • Illegal hunting and trapping for the pet trade also has a detrimental influence on their wild numbers.

 

Golden Mantella Frogs Their golden yellow body color. Bright body colors such as these warn predators that the animals may be too toxic ingest

At Micke Grove Zoo, the humidity in the golden mantella exhibit is closely monitored by staff to allow these frogs to breathe through their skin

 

These frogs are approximately 1 inch long and they can barely been seen under leaf litter on the forest floor

 

Map Distributional range
Golden mantella are endemic to Madagascar (the island in black to the right of Africa).