Earlier this month Chester Zoo announced the first ever captive breeding of the endangered Montserrat tarantula. About 200 of the endangered arachnids have hatched out, with more coming. The breeding was one fraught with risk - as the picture above shows, tarantula mating is not a cuddly, loving affair. The life of the male is at considerable risk, before, during, and after the process. This breeding is significant conservation news, and not just for the sake of the spiders. It turns out that the tarantulas are a favored food item for another endangered Caribbean resident - the mountain chicken frog.
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