Kansas City Zoo breeds endangered Wyoming toads

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Kansas City Zoo is now a breeding ground for 19 endangered Wyoming toads.

The toads arrived in Kansas City last week. The survival of the critically endangered species depends on the zoo's ability to breed the toads while in captivity.

They're living in plastic cages in a sealed quarantine room, which is inside a locked building that is off limits to the public. The living conditions are nothing like their native home in Wyoming.

Zoo animal curator Sean Putney said the Wyoming toad became extinct in the wild in 1994. Since then, more than 94,000 young toads and tadpoles have been released into four lakes in the Laramie Basin.

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Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com