Washington: Romeo, a Sehuencas water frog has been alone and single for the last 10 years. Not anymore! Housed in a museum in Bolivia, scientists may have potentially found a mate for Romeo, considered possibly the last living water frog of his kind.
The big-eyed amphibian won hearts last year when conservationists created a playful Match.com profile for him, reported CNN.
Romeo, and his love interest, whom scientists have named Juliet, will now be set up on a blind date on Valentine's Day as part of an effort to save their species.
The entire process started when Bolivia's Alcide d'Orbigny Natural History Museum partnered with Global Wildlife Conservation to raise money to search for a mate for Romeo.
That soon led to zoologist Teresa Camacho leading a frog-search expedition last month through Bolivia's cloud forest. At first, following days of searching, the research team discovered a male frog.
Still, "I noticed the habitat was in good condition, so we had hope," Camacho said, adding that they went back the next day and found four more frogs - two female and two male.
Juliet is at the perfect age for reproduction. The others are younger and not ready yet, Camacho said.
But Romeo and Juliet may not even be compatible.
The museum, which also helped preserve the rare Titicaca water frog, is relying on the newly found younger frogs should the Romeo-Juliet encounter not go as planned, for the conservation of the species.
