FrogLog 103 PDF here - Amphibian Specialist Group

We are extremely fortunate in that the School of
Environmental Sciences & Development at NWU
is very involved with amphibian research in Southern
Africa, and supports amphibian conservation.
As a result a great deal of the preparatory research
required for this project is already in progress or
has been completed. An EKZN Wildlife researcher
currently provides occurrence predictions based
upon geographic modeling, and students from
NWU then carry out the necessary ground truthing,
in addition to several other in-situ research
projects pertaining to other aspects of this species’
natural history. In this way, at least two new locations
where the Pickersgill’s reed frog occurs have
already been discovered. It currently appears that
the primary threat to this species is the extreme
limitation, fragmentation and isolation of its areas
of occurrence. In addition to this, only one of a total
of approximately thirteen occurrence sites lies
within a protected area. A second is immediately
downhill of a newly built airport and a third is currently
destined to be completely destroyed in the
course of a large scale harbor construction project
within the next three years. Another site is wedged
between a water treatment plant and the road
adjacent to a low cost housing development, and
is so small and insignificant looking that it could
be completely destroyed by the illegal dumping of
building rubble or another pollution event. Where
possible the protection of these sites is therefore
also of critical importance. The NRF have undertaken
to provide the DNA profiling necessary to
establish the relationships between the existing
wild populations, which will provide important
information that will assist us in making the necessary
decisions regarding future collection, captive
management and potential release of specimens.
The collection team consisting of staff, research students and volunteers. Photo: Ian Visser.
Previous work at the Johannesburg Zoo has provided
us with three suitable spaces dedicated to
research for our Amphibian Conservation Project,
in addition to which a refrigerated shipping container has been
purchased and installed on site. Once sufficient funds have been
acquired and the container has been suitably modified it will provide
us with a fourth area which will be dedicated permanently to
the Pickersgill’s reed frog program. In addition to this, the National
Zoo has recently reported completion of its own dedicated amphibian
breeding and research space. The necessary staff training is intended
to take place shortly, after which the National Zoo will join
the program.
The first batch of 30 wild-caught Pickersgill’s reed frogs, a mixture
of adults and juveniles, were collected from three sites in March
2012, after the end of the last breeding season. The group has acclimatized
well, is healthy and shows good growth, and (most importantly!)
has suffered zero losses since the time of collection three
months ago. This augurs well for the next breeding season, due to
begin in November this year.
Pickersgill’s reed frog occurs in thick reed beds, difficult terrain in which to collect specimens.
Photo: Ian Visser.
In addition to our current and potential future husbandry research,
other opportunities have presented themselves. As a result of our
greater involvement in amphibian conservation, tentative links
have been established with other conservation organizations such
as Mitsinjo, a community-run conservation organization concerned
with husbandry research on the frogs of Andasibe, Madagascar and
of course the IUCN SCC Amphibian Specialist Group. Since there
is much common ground, in addition to our relative geographic
proximity, the fact that we occasionally receive shipments of confiscated
Madagascan herpetofauna in Johannesburg, and the need
to share skills and resources, it is hoped that we can build ties with
amphibian conservation efforts in Madagascar in order to complement
each other’s efforts.
FrogLog 20 (4) | Issue number 103 (July 2012) | 19