For the first time in more than six decades, a toad has returned to the historic Las Vegas Springs — and no one knows how it got there.
A lone male Woodhouse’s toad was photographed last month by a wildlife camera at the Springs Preserve’s cienega wetland, preserve officials said, marking the first documented sighting of the toad on the 180-acre property since the original springs that helped make the founding of modern Las Vegas possible dried up in the early 1960s.
Senior Preserve Zoologist Katrina Smith said the Woodhouse’s toad is common throughout Southern Nevada, but its appearance at the preserve has surprised scientists.
“This appearance by our forlorn frog friend marks a big moment in local wildlife history,” preserve officials said in a statement.
The Springs Preserve sits atop the site of the original Las Vegas Springs — a network of artesian springs that sustained Indigenous communities for thousands of years before providing water to early ranchers, the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad, and the townsite that became the city of Las Vegas in 1911. As groundwater pumping intensified during the 20th century, the springs gradually ran dry, and much of the surrounding wetland ecosystem disappeared by the early 1960s, including the Las Vegas dace and the Vegas Valley leopard frog.
The toad was discovered about a month before the Springs Preserve announced the sighting on July 8, according to Smith. The lone male amphibian was captured on one of several cameras that Smith and other staff review each week as part of the preserve’s routine monitoring program. Since then, it has not been seen again despite continued surveillance, she added.
“We wouldn’t have even known if it didn’t show up on my wildlife camera,” Smith said in an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I just happened to catch it calling for a mate one night.”
Woodhouse’s toads are among the Southwest’s most adaptable amphibians. Found across much of the western and central United States and northern Mexico, the toads generally prefer living in still water areas and eat mostly spiders and other insects, according to the National Park Service. Their ability to travel farther from permanent water than many other frog species has helped them thrive throughout Southern Nevada.
An elusive visitor
Smith said visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of the amphibian are unlikely to succeed because the toad was photographed in a natural area that is not accessible to the public.
“It’d be very rare for a visitor to see that toad on the property,” she said.
Exactly how the amphibian reached the preserve is not clear. Smith said that one possibility is that the toad traveled through the Alta storm channel, which carries urban runoff water into the preserve’s cienega wetland. Another possibility is that the toad crossed portions of the Las Vegas Valley overland to find a suitable breeding habitat, she added.
However, Smith said that because only a single male toad has been documented, scientists at the preserve cannot determine whether the sighting represents the beginning of a returning population or simply an isolated visitor. She said the preserve will continue monitoring its wetlands through existing wildlife cameras and routine surveys, but it has no plans to increase monitoring because of the discovery.
“It’s hard to say,” Smith said when asked whether more Woodhouse’s toads could appear at the preserve. “It would certainly be cool to see more toads come through.”
Contact Lucas Hellberg at lhellberg@reviewjournal.com.
