Populations of spadefoot toad and garden dormouse in Limburg grow after intervention | Animals

10 Feb 2023 at 16:16

Limburg has been able to prevent some animal species from becoming extinct in recent years. Thanks to breeding and breeding programs, animals such as the spadefoot toad and the garden dormouse have another chance in the province. There live species that occur nowhere else in the Netherlands.

Together with various nature organizations, the province has invested for years to conserve animal species. Limburg has a unique animal population, but the yellow-bellied fire toad, spadefoot toad, hamster and acorn mouse were threatened with extinction.

In addition to breeding and breeding programs, all kinds of breeding grounds have been created in nature. These are source pools for the fire salamander, nest boxes for the garden mouse and more than three hundred concrete containers for eggs and larvae of various toad species.

It has led to an increase of hundreds of animals. There are now at least five hundred yellow-bellied fire toads. In the 1980s there were only a few dozen, the province says.

There were only dozens of the garden mouse in 2019. There are now 100 to 150 of these rodents living in Limburg. And of the spadefoot toad there were only a few animals about ten years ago. After releasing thousands of cultivated garlic toads, at least two hundred “calling animals” were counted in 2020, says the spokesman for deputy Geert Gabriels (Environment).

The work is not done all at once, the spokesman emphasizes. “We maintain the breeding programs.” The province works together with farmers, companies and local residents, also across the borders of Limburg.

Source