Jose Alfredo Hernández Díaz
Curator of Reptiles and Amphibians, Africam Safari Zoo, Mexico
I have 12 years of experience working with amphibians and reptiles, concretely in captive husbandry, wild population monitoring and conservation. Since 2012 I started working as the curator of reptiles and amphibians at Africam Safari Zoo in Mexico. This job has given me the opportunity to work on amphibian conservation by coordinating two projects with endemic and critically endangered amphibians. The first project I had the opportunity to coordinate was the Large Crested Toad Conservation Program achieving the first breeding event in captivity for this species. Since that time we have released more than 1000 captive bred toads with the participation of local community and we have established an annual monitoring of the population. In 2015 I started a new project with Taylor’s Salamander with the aim of protecting the lake where the species lives from human pressure. The project involves several conservation actions such as reforestation around the lake, litter clearance campaigns, education to local people and tourists. In 2018 I started a captive colony of the species achieving the first breeding event in captivity last year.