Amphibians are declining across the globe Air, ground, and water pollution are destroying them. The decline in Canada has been about 30% since 1970. Much worse in the tropics – The Golden Toad was discovered in 1966 in Cost Rica and extinct by 1989 – the poster child for amphibians in decline. The Cope’s Tree Frog from Eastern U.S. and Canada is okay for the moment. They are truly “canaries in the coal mine”: