Nearly 30 years of persistence and vision has paid off when the first 24 captive-bred critically endangered Kroombit Tinkerfrogs (Taudactylus pleione) were released at Kroombit Tops in March 2023! This is a huge milestone for this species, and one which a small group of volunteers from QSN-member group the Queensland Frog Society helped to achieve during the Kroombit Frogsearch trips over the last three years, funded by a Community Sustainability Action grant awarded by the Queensland Government.

The Frog Society’s Dr Ed Meyer, Coordinator of the Kroombit Frogsearch program has been instrumental in the success of the captive breeding program, alongside Harry Hines of QPWS and Michael Vella of Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.

See the short release video HERE.

Read Currumbin Sanctuary’s press release for more details:

This World Frog Day (20 March 2023), the team at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary have plenty of reasons to celebrate, with the first group of captive bred Kroombit tinkerfrogs released into the wild after years of research and dedication.

This exciting update on efforts to recover this critically endangered frog species has been made possible thanks to the ongoing partnership between Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS), the Queensland Frog Society (QFS), Fitzroy Basin Association (FBA) and the Australian Government.

In 2020 Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary was the first organisation in the world to successfully breed a critically endangered Kroombit tinkerfrog in captivity. Three years later, and following more breeding success, the team have just released 24 frogs at Kroombit Tops National Park, to boost population numbers. Another 29 captive bred tinkerfrogs are planned for a second release later in March 2023.

This is a huge milestone for the conservation of this species. Kroombit tinkerfrogs are on the brink of extinction, with an estimated 150 individuals left in the wild.

“We are so excited that we have reached this point in our Kroombit tinkerfrog conservation program. The release went really well, and we’ll now monitor the population very closely, with hopes they’ll breed in the wild and numbers will increase.” – Amphibian Specialist Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary Michael Vella.

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service have deployed bio-acoustic recorders across the range of the Kroombit tinkerfrog. The program’s success will be assessed by monitoring calling activity at the release sites. “QPWS is proud to be working with all of the partners involved to support the recovery of this unique frog species. We are hopeful that the now-released frogs will thrive in their natural environment and will continue to improve populations in the wild.” – QPWS Senior Conservation Officer Harry Hines.

Image courtesy of Queensland Government