To help tackle the problem, the government said earlier in the day it would increase the number of protected sites for the creatures nationwide.

"Amphibians are disappearing because of a lack of habitat due to more and more construction, more roads, more tourism and an intensification of agriculture," said Erich Kohli, an official from the department of environment.

Ponds are often filled up during construction work without replacements being built elsewhere, leaving frogs and toads homeless, he explained.

In response, the Swiss Federal Council said it would protect 72 new pond areas where frogs can mate, on top of some 770 already in place, and add 55 new river-forest zones to the 230 protected sites across the country.

In the past 100 years, the area of lush forest land situated next to rivers, which is vital to maintain biodiversity in Switzerland, has been reduced by 90 percent, according to the environment department.

Although there are no statistics on the population of some 20 species of amphibians nationwide, the number of ponds suitable for many of them to reproduce has also fallen dramatically, said Kohli.

As a result, the animals have been placed on a "red list," meaning they are in danger of disappearing altogether from the country.

The new pond areas will be situated in urban areas as well as in the mountains with one even being established on an army training land.

Frogs and toads are not just having a tough time in Switzerland.

"Worldwide amphibians are in a regression and nobody knows exactly why," Kohli said. "We think it is the influence of poisoning in the air."

It was vital to save the animals because they played an important part in the food chain, said the official.

TERRA.WIRE