Story from abc.net.au
So the release of more than 3,400 eggs of the critically endangered frog in Kosciuszko National Park (New South Wales) gives them a fighting chance.
The recovery program has been ongoing for 22 years ad this mass release is the largest in that time.
“It’s a really significant milestone,” Zoos Victoria threatened species biologist Deon Gilbert said.
“This is the most amount of eggs we’ve been able to produce since the recovery program started back in 2001.”
The southern corroboree frog, which measures up to 3 centimetres in length, or around the size of a 20-cent coin, has been under threat since the late 1980s.
It was listed as endangered in 1996 and critically endangered since 2009.
Its key threat is a fatal disease caused by the amphibian chytrid fungus, but it’s also impacted by drought, bushfires, climate change and feral species.
Zoos Victoria’s Melbourne Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary, along with Taronga Zoo, have taken part in the official breeding program to bolster the population over the past two decades.
