The probable extinction of the golden toad reflects the current worldwide decline in amphibian populations. The more subtle effects of human activities on the world's ecosystems such as the build-up of pollutants, the decrease in atmospheric ozone, and changing weather patterns are beginning to take their toll. Amphibians may be our first and only early warning that these effects are starting to reach catastrophic levels (6), and may be the first sign of impending ecosystem crashes (7). In 1991, the Species Survival Commission of the IUCN established the Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force (DAPTF), which later merged into the Amphibian Specialist Group, which aims to raise money and promote research into the global amphibian decline (6).