53 critically endangered giant burrowing frogs released in East Gippsland after Black Summer rescue

Mixed · 2Fifty-three critically endangered southern giant burrowing frogs have been released into the wild in East Gippsland, Victoria, almost six years after the Black Summer fires. 1 2 Mixed · 2The frogs were discovered as tadpoles, in areas no larger than a puddle, after the 2019/2020 fires destroyed large areas of their forest habitat; the Times of India, citing ABC News, puts the number rescued at about 160. 1 2 Left · 1Snowline Ecology herpetologist Matt Clancy called the discovery a miracle, saying many areas were burnt to no vegetation, which he thinks severely affected some populations. 1

Mixed · 2In 2021 Clancy and other experts took the tadpoles to Healesville Sanctuary, where keepers from Melbourne Zoo and Healesville raised them through metamorphosis. 1 2 Mixed · 2Last year the species was bred in captivity for the first time; Zoos Victoria described this as a world first, according to the Times of India. 1 2 Left · 1Zoos Victoria keeper Meagan Lane said the program secured the frogs' genetics for future generations and gave insight into a species never before held in a zoo. 1

Mixed · 2The frog is about the size of a cricket ball, with large eyes and muscular limbs, and lives from south of Kangaroo Valley in New South Wales through Victoria to Walhalla in central Gippsland. 1 2 Mixed · 2Bushfires, drought and the amphibian disease chytridiomycosis have hit wild numbers; there is no population census because the frogs are secretive and mostly underground, and Victoria has fewer than five known breeding sites. 1 2 Mixed · 2Scientists will monitor the released frogs; song meters in the forest will detect their calls and help find potential breeding sites. The Times of India adds that each frog carries a PIT microchip tag, and that a federal Wildlife and Habitat Bushfire Recovery Program funded the project. 1 2