Frog Rescue Squad
by Linda Vergnani
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Frog Rescue Squad |
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| For the tiny whistling tree frog that was found nestling in a salad aboard a Qantas flight to New Zealand, rescue came too late.
The frog was discovered on a recent flight between Melbourne and Wellington and, as a quarantine precaution, it had to be destroyed. If the creature had been discovered in Sydney, its chances of survival might have been far better thanks to a special frog rescue squad. FATS’ Frogwatch Helpline The Frog and Tadpole Study Group of NSW (FATS) organised the Frogwatch Helpline. Its trained members alert staff at major markets, florists, plant nurseries and shops to watch out for stowaway frogs. If any alien amphibians are found they are placed in rescue cages and handed over to the rescue team who identify and quarantine them. The Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife has recently sponsored special frog fridge magnets giving details of the FATS Frogwatch Helpline. They are now on their way to building supply stores, greengrocers and other outlets where stowaway frogs and dangerous cane toads are likely to be discovered.
Dr Arthur White, President of FATS, says catching and quarantining alien and stowaway indigenous amphibians can mean the difference between life and death not only for individual rescued frogs but for many species of wild frogs. Protection of wild populations All collected frogs have to be treated as diseased animals. "What we do is quarantine the frogs for two months and pre-treat them for two diseases Chytridiomycosis, a microfungus from the United States, and the Rana virus." These two highly infectious diseases have caused the extinction of eight amphibian species in Australia. In NSW the highland bell frog Litoria castanea was the first casualty to Chytrid and two other species of bellfrog are endangered. "In the 1970s, Queensland lost seven species – two species of gastric brooding frog, three species of mist frog and Litoria nyakalensis, a small rainforest frog." Most frogs rescued by FATS are Australian species. After the amphibians pass a post-quarantine veterinary check, members of FATS, who are licensed amphibian keepers, can acquire the frogs as pets. Call the experts when you find a cane toad FATS also runs a Cane Toad Alert Program and has asked the public to contact the organisation if they find a suspect toad. Dr White explains, "We tell people not to kill them. It sounds a bit silly, but over 80 percent of reported toads are not cane toads. People see a strange frog and assume it’s a cane toad. If it is a cane toad we put it down humanely by putting it in a cloth bag into the fridge and then popping it into the freezer." Monica Wangmann, an independent councillor for Ashfield, has been rescuing stowaway frogs for four years. "I used to rescue a couple of hundred frogs a year from the Flemington Market. But there are far fewer coming through the markets now because of quality control in the plantations." A
major problem is the import of poisonous cane toads, buried in loads of
building soil or mulch or hiding in the hollows in bricks. "We see
around 60 a year. What we don't want is a breeding pair in Sydney or,
even more devastating, a breeding pair in the western rivers of New South
Wales because of the sensitive ecosystems out there." |
