The Corroboree Frog Recovery Program aims to maintain populations of both Northern and Southern Corroboree Frogs in the wild.
For the Southern Corroboree Frog, and important populations of the Northern Corroboree Frog, this can only be achieved through the successful reintroduction of captive bred and reared individuals back into the wild.
Maintaining populations in the wild is important for a range of reasons:
- To establish the necessary techniques to recover the Corroboree Frogs in the longer term
- To provide opportunities for further field research into techniques to mitigate the key threat of the Chytrid fungus
- To maintain interactions between Corroboree Frogs and the amphibian Chytrid fungus to allow potential evolution of greater resilience to this pathogen
- To avoid ‘genetic drift’ in captivity over time, which can result in reduced ‘field fitness’
Large chytrid free enclosure where
Corroboree frogs are being released.
Several reintroduction programs and techniques are being trialed to determine which methods are the most effective. Egg and adult frog releases have been previously trialed with some degree of success however the recovery team believes better results can be achieved.
Methods currently trialled for the Southern Corroboree Frog include:
- Releasing eggs into artificial pools in the species’ former range
- Releasing eggs into artificial pools in areas not occupied by the common Eastern froglet
- Releasing eggs into large and small chytrid-free field enclosures
Methods currently trialled for the Northern Corroboree Frog include:
- Releasing different life-stages back into breeding habitat in Northern Brindabella Ranges
- Releasing eggs back into natural pools in breeding habitat in Namadgi National Park
- Releasing juvenile (1 year old) frogs back into breeding habitat in Namadgi National Park