Toad-ly Awesome: Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show & the Puerto Rican Crested Toad

Join us as Coral and Natalie explore how Bad Bunny united the Americas through his historic halftime performance while shining a spotlight on an unlikely cultural icon: the Puerto Rican crested toad (known as coquí guajón or sapo concho). Bad Bunny features this endangered amphibian as a recurring symbol throughout his album DtMF (Debí Tirar Más Fotos), where animated versions of the toad appear in every song, transforming a threatened species into a powerful emblem of Puerto Rican identity and resistance. In an era when both Puerto Rican culture and ecosystems face mounting threats—from climate change to colonialism—this essential conversation celebrates how art, joy, and cultural pride become acts of resistance, and how one of the world’s most prominent artists is using his platform to draw attention to a species on the brink of extinction.

A note from Coral and Natalie: After this episode, we’ll be taking a break from our regular interview format as we focus our energy and efforts on producing an exciting short film project! Season two interviews will resume in the spring. You can find out more in the coming weeks leading up to Jane Goodall’s birthday—stay tuned for the launch of our Seed and Spark crowdsourcing effort for our short film coming soon to you!

 

RAY OF HOPE:

In a time when Puerto Rico faces ongoing struggles with colonial status, economic exploitation, climate disasters, and threats to its biodiversity, Bad Bunny’s celebration of the Puerto Rican crested toad in his music and halftime performance stands as a powerful ray of hope—demonstrating that global platforms can elevate local ecosystems, that joy and resistance are intertwined, and that cultural pride is inseparable from environmental stewardship.

This commitment to centering Puerto Rican identity and ecology represents hope because it shows us a pathway forward: artists using their massive platforms to spotlight endangered species, music creating emotional connections to ecosystems that desperately need protection, the recognition that resistance can be joyful and unifying rather than divisive, and a growing understanding that decolonization and ecological justice are interconnected struggles—ensuring that future generations inherit not just protected species but the cultural narratives that inspire us to fight for them.

 

FUN FACTS ABOUT THE PUERTO RICAN CRESTED TOAD:

• The Rarest Toad in Puerto Rico: The Puerto Rican crested toad (Peltophryne lemur) is one of only two toad species native to Puerto Rico and is critically endangered, found nowhere else on Earth. It was actually thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 1966!
  
• The “Concho” Connection: Locally known as sapo concho, this toad gets its name from the bony crests on its head that form a distinctive crown-like pattern—a fitting symbol for Bad Bunny’s artistic vision of Puerto Rican royalty and resilience.
  
• Underground Survivors: Unlike their famous relatives, the coquí frogs, Puerto Rican crested toads spend most of their lives underground in burrows, emerging primarily during the rainy season to breed in temporary pools.
  
• Explosive Breeders: When conditions are right, these toads engage in “explosive breeding”—thousands emerge simultaneously to breed in temporary rain pools, creating a spectacular natural event that lasts only a few nights per year.
  
• Conservation Success Story in Progress: Thanks to captive breeding programs in collaboration with zoos across the United States and Puerto Rico, over 300,000 tadpoles have been released back into the wild since the 1980s, though the species remains critically endangered.

 

ANXIETY TO ACTION:

In an era when Puerto Rico confronts ICE raids, colonial exploitation, climate catastrophes, and the loss of its unique biodiversity, Bad Bunny’s joyful resistance reminds us that protecting Puerto Rican culture and ecosystems requires more than policy alone—it demands art, music, and cultural celebration that help us recognize why these communities and species matter and inspire us to fight for their liberation and survival.

 

Take Action:

• Listen to Bad Bunny’s music and pay attention to the sapo concho animations throughout the DtMF album—let art deepen your connection to endangered species and inspire you to learn more.

• Learn about the species in your own backyard—research the native amphibians, plants, and animals in your local ecosystem and understand what threats they face.

• Support Puerto Rican environmental organizations working to protect the island’s unique biodiversity and combat climate change impacts.

• Advocate against ICE raids and for immigration justice—recognize that human rights and environmental justice are interconnected struggles, and that displacement and ecological destruction share common roots in colonialism and exploitation.

• Unite through joy—create spaces for celebration, music, and art that bring people together around shared values of dignity, resistance, and hope.

• Support captive breeding and reintroduction programs for endangered species, such as the Puerto Rican crested toad.

 

EPISODE INFORMATION:

• Listen as Coral and Natalie break down Bad Bunny’s historic halftime performance and the cultural significance of centering the Puerto Rican crested toad in his artistic vision.
• Donate to Puerto Rican Crested Toad Conservancy here.
• Listen to Bad Bunny’s DtMF album here. 

 

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