A ‘hoping’ hand for the Southern Bell Frog

The Southern Bell Frog, also known as the Growling Grass Frog, Ranoidea raniformis (formally Litoria raniformis), was once widespread across much of south-eastern Australia. However, it became locally extinct in the lower Murray during the Millennium drought.

Conservation actions to help restore this green and gold species, which is one of the largest frog species in Australia, include captive breeding, translocations, water management and surrogate sites. As well as restoring large areas of their preferred wetland habitat in other parts of their range, NGT also operates a Southern Bell Frog captive breeding facility at Clayton Bay, SA.

So far, although we’ve had great success raising tadpoles to adulthood (raising their survival rate from 0.3% in the wild to almost 100% in captivity), we are having problems getting the adults to successfully breed in captivity – and we are not alone. We needed to compare notes with others who are also working on Southern Bell Frog conservation around Australia.

To address this knowledge gap, and in collaboration with others who are also working with the species, a fantastic workshop to discuss the conservation and captive breeding of the Southern Bell Frog was recently held at Monarto Safari Park. This workshop brought together numerous experts in the field of Australian frog conservation to share their knowledge. Coordinated by Zoos and Aquarium Association Australasia, Zoos SA, Nature Glenelg Trust and Winton Wetlands, and supported by Landscapes Hills and Fleurieu, the event focused on optimising habitat, nutrition, managing disease and behavioural support strategies in captive breeding programs.

It was a great example of people coming together to solve problems, share ideas and improve our chances of success for captive breeding to conserve these special frogs.