Żaby corroboree pierwszy raz od 5 lat zauważone dziko

For the first time in five years, a group of the critically-endangered northern corroboree frogs have been spotted in the wild. Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government ecologists discovered a total of 37 northern corroboree frogs at two sites across Namadgi National Park in the territory. The ecologists found sixteen male frogs at the park’s Ginini Flats Wetlands site and a further 21 frogs at a lower elevation site. Although the ACT government has been attempting to restore the northern corroboree frog population for almost a decade – including by releasing frogs and eggs into the park – this discovery marks the first sighting of the critically-endangered frog in the wild since 2019. “Having not seen these frogs in the wild since 2019, we were beginning to think all hope was lost, and that the species was close to extinction,” Environment Minister Rebecca Vassarotti told ABC News in a statement. “Australia is the extinction capital of the world.” She continued, “Way too often, climate change and human impact on the environment has resulted in us losing unique species permanently as they become extinct. “I've been heartbroken to have to continue to list species as close to extinction.” The ACT government has reportedly been “worried” about the northern corroboree frogs since 1986, due to the compounding pressures of climate change, habitat loss, and the invasive chytrid fungus. The deadly fungus affects the northern corroboree frogs’ skin, preventing them from absorbing essential quantities of water and salts. Rebecca told ABC Radio Canberra that ecologists had been experimenting with the breeding program and releasing the frogs in different areas of the park to avoid the fungus. “We've been... releasing eggs in some other areas in Namadgi, where they hadn't previously been seen,” she explained. “These were at slightly lower elevations… And the reason we were doing that is that they were elevations where there wasn't such an impact of this awful fungus.” The minister called the recent wild sighting of northern corroboree frogs an “exciting” development, but acknowledged more work still needed to be done. “The identification of new northern corroboree frogs across a range of sites restores my confidence that we can save this incredible frog that is so unique to our region,” she said. “It's going to take a long time to recover fully, and these are some areas that were burned in 2003 as well as in 2019 and 2020.” Some habitat in Namadgi National Park was damaged during the catastrophic 2019-2020 Australian bushfires, which saw an estimated nineteen million hectares of land burnt and nearly three billion animals impacted by the blazes. Previously, the park was damaged by the 2003 Canberra bushfires; the most destructive bushfires in the ACT’s history at that time. During the 2003 Canberra bushfires, four people died and 510 properties were destroyed. Rebecca named bushfire recovery as a priority for the park, elaborating, “The rangers are seeing some really good recovery, particularly with some of the mosses that are important for frogs and play a really important role in terms of keeping our water source clean.” When: 01 Dec 2021 Credit: ACT Government/Cover Images **EDITORIAL USE ONLY. MATERIALS ONLY TO BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH EDITORIAL STORY. THE USE OF THESE MATERIALS FOR ADVERTISING, MARKETING OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL PURPOSE IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. MATERIAL COPYRIGHT REMAINS WITH STATED SUPPLIER.**