Golden Frogs of Monteverde

The tiny Monteverde golden toad is famous worldwide for its rarity and beauty. Its glamor was nature-made, but its mysterious decline was due to humans. Golden toads, also known as “little jewels of the forest floor,” were never widespread, but they were once abundant in the highly elevated tropical cloud forest area above the Costa Rica town of Monteverde. No one has seen a golden toad since 1989. Scientists believe that rising temperatures may have driven this species to extinction.