Awareness Increase and Launch of the Mantella Cowani Action Plan

Awareness Increase and Launch of the Mantella Cowani Action Plan

Conservation of the critically endangered species of the high plateau: a pilot project to secure the natural habitats of Mantella cowani, Boophis williamsi and Mantidactylus pauliani
Location of project / Madagascar. High plateau areas, sites of Mantella cowani (Antakasina, Itremo, Antoetra) and of Boophis williamsi and Mantidactylus pauliani (Ankaratra).
Project dates / The project was scheduled for two consecutive years 2008-2009.
Project coordinator / Dr. Franco Andreone, Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Via Giolitti, 36, I-10123 Torino, Italy. Telephone: +390119084010; Emails and
Amount and date of grant /

11,000 €

Date of grant report /

November 2008

Finalities / Amphibians are at the forefront of the current biodiversity crisis: a recent analysis through Global Amphibian Assessment showed that about one third of the world’s species are in danger of becoming extinct. The present project represents an applicative step of the conservation strategy established for the threatened amphibians of Madagascar, aiming at collecting basic data on life history, distribution and conservation status of some of the “critically endangered” species not yet occurring within a protected area. This will allow assessing concrete conservation actions, assisting the Malagasy authorities to foster the long-term management of species. A detailed work of species listing in terms of conservation threat was carried out during the “Global Amphibian Assessment”, leading to the publication of a paper on Conservation Biology. Up to now, only a few of the critically endangered species were studied. And three of them - Mantella cowani, Boophis williamsi and Mantidactylus pauliani - have not yet included within any protected area. The present project should be intended as part of the more general project on the conservation of Malagasy frogs, aiming to establish real conservation actions and collecting of biological data for the threatened species. The project was set-up to define the basic biological requirements of the studied species that up to now are only partly (M. cowani) or not known (Boophis williamsi, Mantidactylus pauliani). Part of the surveys will be spent in search of new populations. We will also collect detailed data on the species’ biology: adults and tadpoles will be searched in refuges with opportunistic research. Representative individuals should have been photographed and submitted to barcoding analysis of mitochondrial DNA. On the same tissue samples we also performed analysis of the Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis presence, this fungus being a worrying pathology that represents a threat for the amphibians of the world. The project was performed to give sound information about threatened frog species of Madagascar, and indications about the general decline of amphibians. The studied taxa should serve as flagships for the amphibian conservation campaigns. The acquisition of the natural habitats of the three considered frogs will provide practical tools to protect the residual populations, that otherwise will be hardly to be protected within the protected area system. The results will allow the Malagasy administrators to put in practice actions in terms of species conservation. By collating the major results obtained during the latter years it will also be possible to dress an overall conservation strategy for one of the most peculiar amphibian faunas of the world.
/ The three studied species, Mantella cowani, Boophis williamsi and Mantidactylus pauliani, and the relative distribution (Antoetra, Antakasina and Itremo for M. cowani; Ankaratra for Boophis williamsi and Mantidactylus pauliani
Current situation / The activity for the study project was originally scheduled with a starting date at the beginning of 2008, with the possibility of being anticipated to late 2007. In effect, we respected this time-schedule, starting already in November 2007,, also because the official collaboration accord between the Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali di Torino (MRSN) and the Parc Botanique et Zoologique de Tsimbazaza (PBZT) requested this tight respect. For this reason, we decided to anticipate expenses and work to carry out some study periods at some of the sites already programmed. Here follows the summary of the actions.
Study at Vohisokina / In November 2007 we carried out a first, although rather detailed study, on the M. cowani population at Vohisokina. Among the other things, this site was already known before, since it is one of the historical sites where the species occurs. It is not far from the village of Antoetra, and it has been a spot for the capture and collect of M. cowani, at least until 2003, when Malagasy authorities have officially stopped the international trade of this species. Two major sites were studied, but most of the research was done at Vohitsokina (20°42.145’S; 47°17.274’E). The second one was Soamasaka (20°44.882’S; 47°17.690’E). We firstly visited the other site of Soamazaka, but there, as usual, we found only a few individuals. At Vohitsokina, on the other hand, the population, although small, is still present and allowed to carry out a due study. At this site we carried out a capture-recapture study, by photographing the belly patterns of the encountered individuals. At Vohitsokina, then it was extended to radium of 3 km. A grassy savanna constitutes the landscape. The site of Soamazaka was visited to verify the species presence, while Vohitsokina was studied for 10 days, the first 5 to study the population and the last five to search for other sites.
/ Visited sites for the possible presence of Mantella cowani around the site of Vohitsokina, next to Antoetra, based upon data collected in November 2007 by C. Deschamps and S. Noroson.
Capture-recapture and population estimate / During this part of the research in the field we followed the standard protocol. We searched for the animals especially in the first hours of the days, since the animals seem to be especially active only during the hours of the sunrise. After this the temperature increases so much that most of the animals go in underground refuges. The animals are captured and temporarily maintained in plastic bags. Then they are measured, weighed, sexed and photographed. In fat, the belly presents an individual combination of spots that allows the recognition of individuals even after a long time. Furthermore, we also cut a small piece of a phalanx to get tissue for genetic and pathological analyses. Every day we repeated the protocol, and at the end of the permanence we elaborated the data using the software CAPTURE. This allowed estimating the population site. In total we captured 84 individuals. By recognising the individual patterns we identified 39 individuals, and some individuals were recaptured several times. Of these 39 individuals, 26 turned out to be females and 13 males, with a final sex-ratio of ½.
Relationship SVL-Weight / Data about body size and weight are reported in the following table and figures. Both the sexes were conspicuously different, with females much large and much heavier than males.
Males mean / Females Mean / Student’s t value / p / SD Females / SD Males / Ratio F / p
SVL / 28,22 / 24,72 / 6,55 / < 0.001 / 1,47 / 1,78 / 1,47 / 0,41
Weight / 1,85 / 1,22 / 5,99 / < 0.001 / 0,30 / 0,33 / 1,21 / 0,66
Box plot of the SVL and weight in males and females of Mantella cowani
Chytrid analysis / We also started the analysis the status for Mantella cowani population(s) for the chytrid fungus, but we do not have yet the results.
Socio-economic study / Beside the biological study of presence, abundance and phenology of Mantella cowani¸we also carried out a socio-economic work about the situation of local populations at Antoetra, and the economic interest of M. cowani trade (until 2003). To get results on this aspect a student in geography from Antananarivo University (Soloniaina Noroson) accompanied us during the permanence at Antoetra in November 2007. Furthermore, she continued to do some visits at Antoetra collecting sites in 2008, and he finished the master thesis (DEA) in October 2008. The defence of the thesis occurred on 13 November 2008 (draft available at
Awareness increase and launch of the Mantella cowani action plan
/ Mantella cowani was also used as a flagship species, and a great interest has been setup to obtain the real conservation of a selected area. The site of Vohisokina (also named Vohitsokina or Fohisokina) has been chosen for this aim. During our permanence we defined the perimeter of the potential protected area. In the meanwhile the coordinator of the Amphibian Specialist Group at Antananarivo (Nirhy Rabibisoa) prepared the action plan for the species. This also includes the possibility to buy and manage the land there to get the conservation of M. cowani. The project has been done
Results / The project provided very good results in terms of the prefixed aims. In particular, we got sound data on the species’ distribution (we are already ready to draw an updated species map), on the life history (we got data on sex ration, sexual size dimorphism, vocalisations). The grant also allowed achieving the original aims and objectives. Of course, since we still have one year to spend, the current results are at less than 50% of the originally scheduled programs. In particular, we still have to visit the sites of Boophis williamsi and Mantidactylus pauliani. In terms of conservation benefits there are important fallouts. First of all the permanence at Vohisokina in 2007 allowed o define the core habitat of the species, and supported the realisation of a specific protected area. After our visit, the study project was assured by the NGO MATE (Man and the Environment) and by Conservation International and Amphibian Specialist Group at Antananarivo. A special action plan has been designed and will be published in the next days.
Changes to the target populations / In terms of conservation status the population of Vohisokina appears to remain stable. So far, no recent commercial captures occurred. Anyhow, it still maintains a very low density, with less than 50 adult animals.
Current and future activities / At the moment of the redaction of the present report (end of October 2008) we are just planning for a new permanence in Madagascar, during November. In this period we will visit breeding sites of Boophis williamsi and Mantidactylus pauliani, on the Ankaratra Massif. Of these two species we do not have recent observations and we ignore which is the current situation in terms of conservation. During the permanence we plan to make observations on the species’ life history traits, and, eventually, to draw the species’ distribution. If this will turn out to be possible, it will represent the basis for the inclusion of the species’ ranges within a new protected area. Later on in November and early December, we will visit a new locality for Mantella cowani. In fact, the species was confirmed on the Itremo Massif, which is just midway between the massifs of Ankaratra/Tsinjoarivo and Antoetra, until recently the only two confirmed sites for the species. At Itremo, the species was found within a small parcel of high altitude rainforest. This observation is also particular, since it confirms that in reality M. cowani is a forest species, and its presence in open altitude savannas is likely a secondary adaptation, due to habitat changes for anthropogenic influence. At Itremo, we will also place some dataloggers in order to evaluate within a year-lapse the temperature changes and fluctuations. This aspect is especially important since it was believed that M. cowani was a savannah species. This also potentially means that the current critically endangered conservation situation may be due to generalised habitat degradation together with influence of pet-trade.
Land purchase: a request of further funding / According to our original proposition, there was the request to get further funds for a land purchase. As stressed before, M. cowani is one of the few Critically Endangered frog species (together with B. williamsi and M. pauliani) to be not yet included in the protected area network designed by President Marc Ravalomanana on the occasion of the so-called “Durban Vision”.( In fact, we asked for 19,000 EUR, i.e. 8,000 EUR more than the accepted fund request of 11,000 EUR. In the board answer there was the specification that the land purchase could have been allowed in a second time. Here we re-iterate this request since the general conditions have been considerably changed. In fact, since the beginnings of the project, there have been repeated contacts with the administrative authorities at Antoetra, where the focus site for M. cowani has been identified. Through the collaboration with Conservation International and Man and the Environment, it was possible to formalise a purchase offer. Conservation International and Amphibian Specialist will be able to provide 10,000 USD. The supplementary fund by VTF, if available, would lead to a substantial increase in surface of the purchased land.
Relevant links to this grant report / We here provide a list of sites where it is possible to download material dealing with the treated project and related activity programs.













1