ZooParc has recently been home to a special frog: the Tobago brook frog.

ZooParc recently has new residents in Madidi: eight Tobago brook frogs. The Overloon Zoo is only the fifth zoo in Europe to see these animals.

Steven van den Heuvel, head zookeeper, says: "This species is so unknown that this frog does not even have a common name in most languages. Even in the Netherlands this species didn't have a name yet, so we came up with one ourselves. We derived it from names in other languages where this species of frog does have a name."

These animals are found in the wild in only one place in the world: on the island of Tobago in South America. This is the smaller of the two islands that make up the country of Trinidad and Tobago and belongs to the Lesser Antilles. The natural habitat of these frogs includes many small rivers and streams. Van den Heuvel explains, "That's why we came up with this name."

Papa cab
Females lay between eleven and nineteen eggs at a time. These are laid in a nest of leaves. The female leaves immediately after laying the eggs; the male, on the other hand, stays nearby. He regularly checks how the eggs are doing. After about two weeks, the tadpoles hatch. The male takes the young on his back and takes them to shallow water. Here they grow into frogs.

Want to read more? And always stay up to date with the latest animal news and updates from now on? Then subscribehere sign up for the ZooParc newsletter.