What is a mountain chicken?
- Despite the misleading name, the mountain chicken is a frog named for its large size and because it was once commonly eaten in its Caribbean range habitat.
- Mountain chickens are one of the biggest frogs on the planet, weighing in over 40 times the size of European common frogs which can be regularly be seen in gardens.
- Visit our mountain chickens at London Zoo - you'll find them in the Secret Life of Reptiles and Amphibians habitat.
Frog parental care
These frogs care for their young, as pairs produce a foam nest to lay their eggs into. The tadpoles are then fed unfertilised eggs by the female to feed on during their development, producing between 10,000-25,000 eggs.
What threats do mountain chickens face in the wild?
There are now only around 21 mountain chicken frogs remaining in the wild, as an amphibian fungus epidemic wiped out over 99% of their population when it arrived in 2002. The disease, amphibian chytridiomycosis, has devastated amphibian populations globally.
Mountain chicken frog conservation
At the Zoo we're breeding mountain chickens to help recover their populations, while carrying out scientific research to discover the solution to the deadly fungus that nearly wiped them out forever.
Our conservationists along with other conservation zoos helped save the species from extinction in 2009, by airlifting them to the safety of a dedicated breeding facility. Today we're continuing to work to restore mountain chicken frogs, through leading scientific research and breeding them in the Secret Life of Reptiles and Amphibians habitat at London Zoo.
Our work at ZSL
Mountain chicken conservation
We are a part of the collaborative Mountain Chicken Recovery Programme, which is leading cutting-edge mountain chicken conservation.