Assessment Results
Duttaphrynus himalayanus
Himalayan Toad
Order:
Anura
Family:
Bufonidae
Synonym(s):
Bufo cyphosus, Bufo himalayanus, Bufo abatus
Assessed for:
India
on:
04 Sep 2020
by:
AArk/ASG India Assessment Workshop
Authors:
Prudhvi Raj Gunturu, Ramachandran Kotharambath, Annemarie Ohler, Naitik Patel, Robin Suyesh, Ashish Thomas and Karthikeyan Vasudevan
IUCN Global Red List:
Least Concern (LC)
National Red List:
(not assessed)
Distribution:
Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan
Evolutionary Distinctiveness score:
9.854574104
Muhammad Sharif Khan © 2001 Karan B. Shah, Nepal Nat. Hist. Mus. (1 of 4)
Recommended Conservation Actions:
Additional Comments:
Listed in Gupta et al (2015) as a species for capacity-building at Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling; and Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant High Altitude Zoo, Nainital.
| Question # | Short Name | Question Text | Response | Comments |
| 1 | Extinction risk | Current IUCN Red List category. [Data obtained from the IUCN Red List.] | Least Concern (LC) | |
| 2 | Possibly extinct | Is there a strong possibility that this species might be extinct in the wild? | No / unlikely | |
| 3 | Phylogenetic significance | The taxon’s Evolutionary Distinctiveness (ED) score, as generated by the ZSL EDGE program. (These data are not editable by Assessors). | ED value < 20 | |
| 4 | Protected habitat | Is a population of at least 50% of the individuals of the taxon included within a well-managed or reliably protected area or areas? | No / unlikely | This species is widely distributed throughout the Himalayan mountains. It is found from the Hazara Division of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, through northern India and Nepal, and Bhutan. It is also known from the southern slopes of the Himalayas in Xizang (himalayanus) and northwestern Yunnan (cyphosus), China. New records since the previous assessment include Gasa District in Bhutan (Wangyal and Gurung 2012) and Sikkim in India (Subba et al. 2016). This species is presumed to be present in Myanmar although this is not yet confirmed. There is also a record from Arunachal Pradesh in India that possibly belongs to this species, but further verification is required (Roy et al. 2019). This species has been recorded from Namdhapa and Mouling National Parks and Dihang-Dibang Biosphere Reserve (in Arunachal Pradesh State) in India, although these are not confirmed as belonging to this species (India RLA/CNA workshop September 2020). Most of this species' range lies within protected areas. It has an elevational range of 1,000-3,500 m asl. In India it will not be found above 3,000m asl (India RLA/CNA workshop, 2020). |
| 5 | Habitat for reintroduction, conservation translocation or supplementation | Does enough well-managed and reliably protected habitat exist, either within or outside of currently protected areas that is suitable for conservation translocation, including population restoration or conservation introduction? | Yes / probably | |
| 6 | Previous reintroductions | Have reintroduction or translocation attempts been made in the past for this species? | No | |
| 7 | In situ conservation activities | Are any in situ conservation actions currently in place for this species? (Only required if a Red List Assessment has not been completed, or if new actions have been implemented since the last Red List Assessment. (Information from the Conservation Actions section of the Red List assessment should be reviewed and considered when answering this question.). | Yes / probably | This species has been recorded from Namdhapa and Mouling National Parks and Dihang-Dibang Biosphere Reserve (in Arunachal Pradesh State) in India. Most of this species' range lies within protected areas. |
| 8 | In situ conservation activities | Are additional in situ conservation actions required to help conserve this species in the wild (e.g. habitat restoration and/or protection, control of invasive species, national legislation etc.)? | Unknown | |
| 9 | In situ research | Is additional in situ research required to better understand the species, e.g. distribution, population trends, natural history etc.? | Yes | More information is needed on this species' distribution, population status, ecology, and taxonomic relationship. |
| 10 | Threat mitigation | Are the threats facing the taxon, including any new and emerging threats not considered in the IUCN Red List, potentially reversible? | Threats are likely to be reversible in time frame to prevent further decline / extinction | It inhabits mountain forests and shrubland near streams and is also found in the vicinity of seepages and cultivated fields. It is quite adaptable to anthropogenically modified habitats. The main threats to this species are agrochemical pollution of land and breeding habitats, development of areas for tourism, and clear-cutting of montane forests. |
| 11 | Over-collection from the wild | Is the taxon suffering from collection within its natural range, either for food, for the pet trade or for any other reason, which threatens the species’ continued persistence in the wild? | No / unlikely | |
| 12 | Population recovery | Is the known population of this species in the wild large enough to recover naturally, without ex situ intervention if threats are mitigated? | Yes / probably | This species is generally a common species in montane areas, although it is considered to be rare in Pakistan. |
| 13 | Action plans | Does an Action Plan for the species already exist, or is one currently being developed? | No | |
| 14 | Biological distinctiveness | Does the taxon exhibit a distinctive reproductive mode, behaviour, aspect of morphology or physiology, within the Order to which it belongs (e.g. Anura, Passeriformes etc.)? | No aspect of biology known to be exceptional | |
| 15 | Cultural/socio-economic importance | Does the taxon have a special human cultural value (e.g. as a national or regional symbol, in a historic context, featuring in traditional stories) or economic value (e.g. food, traditional medicine, tourism) within its natural range or in a wider global context? | No | |
| 16 | Scientific importance | Is the species vital to current or planned research other than species-specific ecology/biology/conservation within the Order to which it belongs (e.g. Anura, Passeriformes etc.) e.g. human medicine, climate change, environmental pollutants and conservation science? | No research dependent on this species | |
| 17 | Ex situ research | Does conserving this species (or closely related species) in situ depend upon research that can be most easily carried out ex situ? | No | |
| 18 | Ex situ conservation activities | Is any ex situ research or other ex situ conservation action currently in place for this species? (Information from the Conservation Actions section of the Red List assessment should be reviewed and considered when answering this question.) | No / unlikely | |
| 19 | Husbandry analog required | If an ex situ rescue program is recommended for this species, would an analog species be required to develop husbandry protocols first? | No / unlikely | |
| 20 | Husbandry analog | Do the biological and ecological attributes of this species make it suitable for developing husbandry regimes for more threatened related species? i.e. could this species be used in captivity to help to develop husbandry and breeding protocols which could be used for a similar, but more endangered species at a later stage? | No | |
| 21 | Captive breeding | Has this species been successfully bred and/or maintained in captivity? | Not held in captivity to date | |
| 22 | Conservation education/ecotourism potential | Is the species especially diurnal, active or colourful, or is there an interesting or unusual aspect of its ecology that make it particularly suitable to be an educational ambassador for conservation of the species in the range country, either in zoos or aquariums or within ecotourism activities? | No | |
| 23 | Mandate | Is there an existing conservation mandate recommending the ex situ conservation of this taxon? | No | |
| 24 | Range State approval | If an ex situ initiative was proposed for this species, would it be supported (and approved) by the range State (either within the range State or out-of-country ex situ)? | Yes / probably | |
| 25 | Founder specimens | Are sufficient animals of the taxon available or potentially available (from wild or captive sources) to initiate an ex situ program, if one was recommended? | Yes / probably | |
| 26 | Taxonomic status | Has a complete taxonomic analysis of the species in the wild been carried out, to fully understand the functional unit you wish to conserve (i.e. have species limits been determined)? | No | Research into species validity needs to be prioritised. The population in northwestern Yunnan is sometimes assigned to the species Duttaphrynus cyphosus (Ye 1977). It is considered here to be a synonym of Duttaphrynus himalayanus following Yang (1991) and Zhao and Adler (1993). More information is needed on this species' taxonomic relationship as it may be a taxonomic complex (India RLA/CNA workshop, 2020). |
Citation:
Prudhvi Raj Gunturu, Ramachandran Kotharambath, Annemarie Ohler, Naitik Patel, Robin Suyesh, Ashish Thomas and Karthikeyan Vasudevan 2020. Conservation Needs Assessment for Duttaphrynus himalayanus, India
(AArk/ASG India Assessment Workshop).
https://conservationneeds.org/assessment/5485
Accessed 24 Jan 2025
