Researchers believe introducing frogs to
lower elevation areas would help them reach sexual maturity earlier
Tue 20 Feb 2018 01.48 GMTLast
modified on Tue 20 Feb 2018 03.38 GMT
Researchers are hoping to increase the
population of one of Australia’s most endangered frogs by helping them reach
sexual maturity earlier.
The number of wild northern corroboree frogs,
which are only found in cold, mountainous areas of the ACT and New South Wales,
has been in sharp decline, mostly due to chytrid fungus. The fungus causes an
infectious disease that is killing frogs around the world. There are only 20 of
the small black and yellow striped frogs left living in the wild in the ACT and
fewer than 1,000 in NSW.
The ACT government has a captive breeding
program at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve and will this month release 30 frogs into
an outdoor enclosure to experience a more natural habitat. The next step will
be developing a self-sustaining wild population and researchers will spend this
year investigating how to give the frogs the best shot at surviving and
thriving.
Lead researcher Ben Scheele from the
Australian National University said they were looking at the benefits of
introducing the frogs to lower elevation areas with warmer temperatures where
they would grow faster, reaching sexual maturity at one or two years of age
rather than three of four.
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