Critically endangered frogs' lifesaving return to mountain streams

Earlier this month [February 2024], 70 juvenile Spotted Tree Frogs were returned to the slopes of Mt Beauty as part of the species’ conservation breeding and release program. A further 300 tadpoles and other frog species will be released in the coming weeks.

The release is the first for the species since 26 Spotted Tree Frogs were recovered in 2021 by the Wild Research Pty Ltd in response to the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires. The frogs were collected from multiple known sites to maximise their potential for successful breeding and reintroduction.

More than 800 individuals have now been bred at the Amphibian Bushfire Recovery Centre at Melbourne Zoo and Threatened Amphibian Biolab at Healesville Sanctuary, with a second generation in waiting to either contribute their genetics to the program or to become candidates for future wild releases.

The Spotted Tree Frog is a small, often vivid green frog with bumps all over its skin. Populations have continued to decline over the past three decades due to high incidents of the Chytridiomycosis caused by the Amphibian Chytrid Fungus, predation by non-native fish, as well as climate-related emergencies including flash flooding, sediment events and bushfire.

The 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires destroyed 50 per cent of known Spotted Tree Frog habitat in Victoria – a delicate mountain stream range, which has seen multiple devastating fire events since 2003.

The Amphibian Bushfire Recovery Centre was funded by the Australian Government’s Bushfire Recovery Program for Wildlife and their Habitats and donations to Zoos Victoria’s Bushfire Emergency Wildlife Fund. The Threatened Amphibian Biolab was funded by the Victorian Labor Government, Cadbury’s Save The Frogs initiative, the Estate of Audrey Lillian Barzowski, and philanthropic contributions to Zoos Victoria and its Bushfire Emergency Wildlife Fund.

The Spotted Tree Frog Project is supported by the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program through the Threatened Species Recovery Hub and funding from the Australian Government’s Bushfire Recovery Program for Wildlife and their Habitats, which is supported by the Victorian Labor Government’s Bushfire Biodiversity Response and Recovery program. Zoos Victoria is grateful for funding support towards this project from The Calvert- Jones Foundation, the Standish Family Fund, part of the Australian Communities Foundation, Annie and John Paterson Foundation, and Sticky Frogs Australia – in Memory of Gumby.