December 2018 Update: Thanks to our customers, Josh's Frogs has been able to donate hundreds of dollars to help conserve mantella populations in the wild! This year, we were able to provide flashlights, camera equipment, supplements, and a mobile weather station to their team in Madagascar.

Josh's Frogs is excited to announce our first Conservation Initiative – our way of giving back to the animals we work with and love. Josh's Frogs is partnering with Association Mitsinjo (Mit-singe-ew), a conservation organization run by the community of Andasibe (An-dos-i-bay), and home to the first conservation-based captive breeding facility in Madagascar. We'll be working firsthand with Devin Edmonds, well known captive amphibian expert and Director of Amphibian Conservation at Mitsinjo.

Mitsinjo's Amphibian Survival Assurance Center, home to genetically viable populations of Golden Mantella and 10 other species.

A look inside Mitsinjo's Amphibian Survival Assurance Center in Andasibe, Madagascar.

Mitsinjo has 3 primary goals:

1. to setup genetically viable captive assurance colonies of threatened species and prevent extinction, such as the golden mantella

2) to conduct husbandry research on species that have yet to be kept in captivity so that when population declines are detected Mitsinjo is ready to set up captive populations

3) to build capacity within Madagascar to enact further ex situ programs, which will allow Mitsinjo to share what they have learned here with other institutions in Madagascar.

A Golden Mantella in its native habitat.

Josh's Frogs will be donating $5 from every mantella sold to help Mitsinjo accomplish it's second goal – to help monitor wild populations of amphibians so that they can step in when needed to prevent extinction.

A captive Golden Mantella breeding group in Association Mitsinjo's Amphibian Survival Assurance Center.

That's right - $5 from every mantella sold on JoshsFrogs.com will go directly to Mitsinjo to help preserve the amphibians of Madagascar. CLICK HERE to view healthy, captive bred mantellas for sale, and to make a difference for wild amphibian populations in Madagascar! At Josh's Frogs, we're strong believers in the idea of conservation through commercialization – that we can protect wild populations of amphibians by providing healthy, captive bred animals for the pet trade and reduce the demand for wild caughts. This first Josh's Frogs Conservation Initiative is the logical next step, and allows us to do more for the animals we all love. Stay tuned, as we have more Conservation Initiatives planned for the future