**4.2 Population status**

The status of amphibians' population globally shows a serious declining trend, and 41% of 6638 known world's amphibian species are threatened with extinction [27, 28]. More precisely, the recent study revealed that over 1800 amphibians face extinction [29]. The class Amphibia are under the division of vertebrae animals and are classified into three orders namely; Order Caudata (salamanders and newts – not found in sub-Saharan Africa), Order Anura (frogs and toads) and Order Gymnophiona (caecilians). Taxonomically, the amphibians in East Africa are classified into two orders: the order Gymnophiona which includes the caecilians- whose members have annuli that resembles earth worms with moist and shiny skin and do not have legs. They occur globally within the tropics and in east Africa, two families occur. Their habitat is mainly buried in damp soil within forests biome. The second order is the anura whose members are mainly toads and frogs. The order comprises of tailless amphibians mainly frogs. Over 20 families of frogs have been documented globally and 8 families occur in East Africa. Relatively few tadpoles (40%) from East African frogs have been described. About 194 frog species and 9 caecilians have been documented in East Africa [30] and over 100 species in Kenya [7]. Although most of these species occur elsewhere in Africa, about 20 are endemic to Kenya [8]. The largest of the species in Kenya is the huge African Bullfrog, *P. edulis*, who inhabit areas around Tsavo National Parks and can weigh over 1 kg and Snout-Vent Length (SVL) is over 14 cm while the smallest species is the Unguja Puddle Frog, *Phrynobatrachus ungujae* who weigh less than 2 g and its SVL is only 1.6 cm [7].
