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Photo: Dave Hunter |
During summer, the adults move down to the sphagnum bogs to breed. A male frog calls to the females from small mossy chambers at the edge of a shallow breeding pool. The female will not lay her eggs until she pairs up with a calling male who fertilises the eggs as they are laid. The eggs are laid in clusters of 16-38 from January to February.
Hatching occurs from autumn to winter during periods of high rainfall or snowmelt, so the tadpoles can use the slow flowing water to travel to the nearby pool. The Southern Corroboree tadpoles hatch at a later stage to most other tadpoles, emerging having already lost their gills and with the beginnings of a hind leg near the base of their tail.
The tadpoles do not grow much over winter when the temperature in the pools drops below 1ºC and can even freeze over.
The tiny froglets take 3-4 years before they are mature enough to breed.
The Southern Corroboree Frog is found in limited areas of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales. It uses two different habitats to survive. In winter, the adults shelter in the dense undergrowth and leaf litter of snow gum woodlands and in summer they migrate to the moist sphagnum moss bogs to breed.
Young frogs eat mainly ants with some bugs, beetles, insect larvae and mites. During winter, many of these frogs do not appear to eat at all. Tadpoles feed on algae and other small pieces of organic material in their pools.
The Southern Corroboree Frog is now listed as Critically Endangered using IUCN criteria, and as Endangered by the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act (1995).
The Amphibian Research Centre (ARC) began collecting a small number of eggs annually in the mid-nineties. These eggs were hatched and the tadpoles raised under controlled environmental conditions. Once metamorphosed, the young frogs are returned to their collection site as part of a ‘Head Start Release Program’.
The December 2002/January 2003 bushfires burnt most of the Southern Corroboree Frog habitat and only a few small patches of sphagnum moss breeding sites were unburnt. It is feared that 50% of the remaining Southern Corroboree Frog population died in the fires.
The Amphibian Research Centre coordinates the captive care of Corroboree Frogs through Project Corroboree. Find out how you can help by visiting the Amphibian Research Centre website.
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