Born during a truck ride in the Bronx in the 90’s, these sister salamanders are unusual compared to other species of salamander because they undergo no larval phase in a vernal pond but instead emerge from their mother like tiny adults.

Once popular in the pet trade, captive bred fire salamanders have become increasingly rare due to an outbreak of chytrid fungus in their native European ranges, likely the result of the import of Asian amphibians in the pet trade. In 2014, a survey done of waterways in France and Spain where fire salamanders and other brightly colored amphibians of note originate had their populations reduced to 1% of their former numbers making them functionally extinct in the wild.

Frankie and Georgie came to us from a former Bronx zoo keeper’s private collection, where we discovered they’d been living for approximately 30 years without issue. The longest lived adult in captivity was approximately 50 years old. Females of this size are unheard of, and to allow them to remain ‘display animals’ doesn’t do their species any good. After six months in quarantine, these lovely ladies were sent to live with an experience amphibian keeper who has had good success breeding fire bellied toads, another tricky amphibian which almost disappeared from the captivity in the last 20 years.

With some luck, these two still have it in them to contribute their genetics and produce offspring, the hope being that they can bolster a dwindling population of amazing, peaceful animals and keep them on our planet for a little longer.