dan_lizard
Active Member
(From Daily Telegraph Tues April 15 Pg 15)
Despite having been pushed to near extinction by man, the green and golden bell frog has proven it's resilience by surviving the worst drought in 100 years.
The endangered frog - made famous after a colony halted construction at the Olympic Site in Sydney - has escaped extinction on the North Coast although all of it's natural waterholes have disappeared.
Recent surveys of the northenmost colony, where as few as 40 may live in the Yuraygir National Park, near Yamba, are encouraging with rangers finding tadpoles.
The frog was once widespread across NSW, now as few as 6 colonies with populations larger than 300 now exist.
But National Parks and Wildlife Service ranger Matt Clarke fear the Yuraygir frogs may have bred too late and that their tadpoles may not mature in time to reach adulthood.
Normally the frogs breed in January
However because their waterholes had dried out, rangers said the frogs did not get a chance for a "breeding event" until a third of the area's rainfall arrived in one night.
Despite having been pushed to near extinction by man, the green and golden bell frog has proven it's resilience by surviving the worst drought in 100 years.
The endangered frog - made famous after a colony halted construction at the Olympic Site in Sydney - has escaped extinction on the North Coast although all of it's natural waterholes have disappeared.
Recent surveys of the northenmost colony, where as few as 40 may live in the Yuraygir National Park, near Yamba, are encouraging with rangers finding tadpoles.
The frog was once widespread across NSW, now as few as 6 colonies with populations larger than 300 now exist.
But National Parks and Wildlife Service ranger Matt Clarke fear the Yuraygir frogs may have bred too late and that their tadpoles may not mature in time to reach adulthood.
Normally the frogs breed in January
However because their waterholes had dried out, rangers said the frogs did not get a chance for a "breeding event" until a third of the area's rainfall arrived in one night.
