Back from the brink of extinction: hunting for the world's rarest frog
Back from the brink of extinction: hunting for the world's rarest frog
There were only four southern Corroboree frogs left in Australia – but a conservation team hopes a new scheme can stop it disappearing
Oliver Milman
@olliemilman
Sunday 8 March 2015 16.15 EDT
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The southern Corroboree frog. Photograph: David Hunter for the Guardian
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If you’re planning on scouring a vast Australian mountain range looking for what is probably the rarest frog in the world, scientists suggest a rudimentary approach works best.
“We shout out ‘hey frog, hey frog’ and listen for a call back,” says David Hunter, a threatened species officer at the New South Wales state government. “I hate to think how many times I’ve shouted that out.”
A more technological approach – camera traps, for example – wouldn’t really work given the endangered southern Corroboree frog measures just 3.5cm in length.
The frogs – the females are largest and pear-shaped when carrying eggs – are coloured by flashes of bright yellow as a warning to predators of the toxins developed from the gobbling up of ants. But the frogs aren’t fully visible unless you stoop down for a close look.
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/mar/09/back-from-the-brink-of-extinction-hunting-for-the-worlds-rarest-frog