More than 800 northern corroboree frogs released into the wild in Brindabella National Park to bolster numbers
1mon 4d ago by aussie.zone/u/Tau in canberra@aussie.zone from www.abc.net.au
More than 800 tiny, technicoloured northern corroboree frogs have been released into the wild in the Brindabella National Park in southern NSW to try to bolster the numbers of one of Australia's most critically endangered amphibians.
Weighing just 2–3 grams and no bigger than a paper clip, the 842 frogs were born and bred at Sydney's Taronga Zoo in a special quarantine facility designed to keep out a deadly fungus that had driven the species to the brink of extinction.
Keeping fingers crossed for them. I'm cross-posting the article to Aussie Enviro. I really liked finding out that
It will be some years before scientists know how many released frogs have survived to breed.
But the technique to find out is a very simple and noisy one.
"We're very lucky in that one of the characteristics of corroboree frogs is that they'll respond to a loud sound," Dr Hunter explained.
"So we essentially just walk around yelling out, 'Hey frog!' and if they're there they will yell back to us."
The male frogs are the ones that return the call in mating season, allowing scientists to then count the number of eggs in the male's nest and calculate an estimate for the female population.
Not sure if they still have it but Tidbinbilla's visitor centre used to have a tank with corroboree frogs in it, they really are tiny little things (much smaller than the impression I'd previously had of them). Never seen one in the wild but I've been around a bit of the Brindabellas and Firey Range so it does make one wonder how many I've been past.
You'll have to shout 'Hey Frog' next time!
I am going to have to try that, it will be very amusing if it works.