Sydney: A species of frog thought to have been extinct for 30 years has been discovered in rural Australian farmland, officials said today.
Frank Sartor, minister for environment and climate
change, said the discovery of the yellow-spotted bell frog is
a reminder of the need to protect natural habitats so "future
generations can enjoy the noise and color of our native
animals."
Luke Pearce, a local fisheries conservation officer,
stumbled across one of the frogs in October 2008 while
researching an endangered fish species in the Southern
Tablelands of New South Wales state.
Pearce told The Associated Press he had been walking
along a stream trying to catch a southern pygmy perch when he
spotted the frog next to the water.
Pearce returned in the same season in 2009 with experts
who confirmed it was a colony of around 100 yellow-spotted
bell frogs.
Dave Hunter, threatened species officer with the
Department of Climate Change and Water, said the find is very
important.
"To have found this species that hasn`t been seen for 30
years and that professional researchers thought was extinct is
great," he said. "It gives us a lot of hope that a lot of
other species that we thought were extinct aren`t actually
extinct we just haven`t found them."
PTI
