The population of golden toads underwent a massive crash in 1987 (2). A few individuals were found up until 1989, but the species has not been seen since then (2). Twenty out of 50 species of frogs and toads (anurans) occurring within a 30 kilometres squared area in Monteverde disappeared after synchronous population crashes in 1987, and have shown no sign of recovery (4). The area is pristine and free of direct human influences (5), a number of reasons have been proposed to explain the decline, including fungal disease, and climatic changes (4) (7).