AN ENDANGERED species of frog found in the Hawkesbury may be one step closer to salvation, thanks to the enormous efforts of committed local naturalist Lance Jurd.
The green and golden bell frog, also known as ‘litoria aurea’, has gone from being one of the most commonly encountered frogs on the eastern side of Australia to one of the most threatened.
It was first discovered in Botany Bay in 1770 by the members of Captain Cook’s party but as time passed, its numbers fell significantly.
Now thanks to a partnership between Mr Jurd and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), the species’ future is looking a little more secure.
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| Lance Jurd, of Riverstone, holding an endangered green and golden bell frog. |
A green and golden bell frog enthusiast for almost 40 years, Mr Jurd has been breeding green and golden bell frog tadpoles in enormous numbers, and is preparing to release them in Scheyville National Park.
He currently has around 10,000 tadpoles and 200 juvenile and 60 adult green and golden bell frogs, living at his property in Riverstone.
“My first encounter with this frog was 40 years ago in Riverstone when I was only 10 years old,” Mr Jurd said. “In 1966 whilst going under a railway water canal which opened into a large open area thick with bulrushes, near the entrance of Riverstone Meatworks, I found a large population of sun baking green and golden bell frogs.
“I would catch some of the frogs and tadpoles and take them home and kept them in disused large outdoor bird cages, where I would watch them develop and learn their needs as a species.”
Mr Jurd said a number of factors had contributed to the species’ population decline, including habitat destruction, predation by the introduced mosquito fish and the presence of ‘chytrid fungus’ a parasite that clogs the skin pores of the frogs until they die of dehydration.
A decline in insect numbers, which the species prey on, has also added to the bell frogs’ decline. By releasing tadpoles in Scheyville National Park, the NPWS hope to regenerate the local frog population.
Mr Jurd has been working on the project for about 18 months and said initially, several hundred tadpoles would be released into the park. Their first test of survival will be finding food during the winter months.
“This species has been here for millions of years evolving slowly, but they can’t adapt to man’s progress and needs,” he said. “All the things that have lead to this species becoming endangered are all related to our own intervention. If we are to save any species we must now give them a helping hand, beyond just expecting them to fend for themselves.”
From Hawkesbury Gazette
