'It's Wyoming's toad': Inside a multi-state effort to save a humble species from extinction

Scientists Warn Carney’s Changes Will Bring ‘Wilful Extinction’

Proposed amendments to make building ports and pipelines easier could destroy entire species.

'It's Wyoming's toad': Inside a multi-state effort to save a humble species from extinction

The main entrance of Como Park Zoo & Conservatory in St. Paul is busy with strollers and chatty kids on a hot weekday afternoon. Below all that, in a tiny basement room marked “biosecure,” zookeeper Allison Pizel tends to one family in particular. “This is Meatball,” she said, holding a brown blob of a toad in a gloved hand. Meatball is a survivor, as the only member of Pizel’s breeding program to make it from egg to tadpole to toad in 2025. Mea…