Intervening to enable recovery
A pioneering response to the threat of extinction.
After Bd was detected in Balearic midwife toad populations, SOSanfibios and the Balearic environmental authorities restricted access to affected areas to slow its spread.
When one population came close to disappearing, the team collected thousands of larvae, treated them with fungicides in the laboratory and disinfected infected permanent pools.
After several years of work, the fungus was eradicated from most treated sites. The populations that had suffered the greatest impact began to recover following the intervention.
Combining laboratory and fieldwork achieved an eradication without precedent.
This was the first intervention anywhere in the world to eradicate the fungus from the wild.
