ISRAEL: Sixty years after declared extinct, a frog endemic to northern Israel reappears

Record ID: 397302

  • Title: ISRAEL: Sixty years after declared extinct, a frog endemic to northern Israel reappears
  • Date: 18th November 2011
  • Summary: HULA VALLEY, ISRAEL (NOVEMBER 17, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HULA VALLEY NATURAL RESORT RANGER YORAM MALKA OPENING AQUARIUM IN WHICH FROG THOUGHT TO BE EXTINCT IS HELD VARIOUS OF 'HULA PAINTED FROG' IN AQUARIUM (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) YORAM MALKA, HULA VALLEY RANGER, SAYING: "It's an endemic species that existed only in the Hula Valley and no where else in the world. The
  • Embargoed: 3rd December 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel, Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Environment,Quirky,Science,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA99Y6G7UACJ9CYCY767NCDXMUM
  • Story Text: They thought it had croaked. But missing for a half-century and listed as extinct in 1996, the Hula painted frog has been spotted again in northern Israel, its only known habitat.
    Hula Valley natural resort ranger, Yoram Malka, has managed to find and capture the rare frog after recognising its jumping technique was unfamiliar to him.
    "Its an endemic species that existed only in the Hula Valley and no where else in the world. The frog was extinct 60 years ago approximately, with the drying up of the Hula," explained Malka on Thursday (November 17). "All of a sudden it re-appears after 60 years. This is something we are very exited and happy about."
    The resurrected frog was placed in protective facility for medical checks and documentation, after which it will be released in the natural resort.
    Only five Hula painted frogs have ever been collected. Four were found in 1940 and one in the 1950s, when most the valley's marshes were drained in efforts to eradicate malaria and make the land arable.
    Part of the wetlands was turned into a nature reserve, but fruitless searches for the frogs over the years led experts to conclude that the species, "Discoglossus nigriventer", had not survived the blow to its habitat.
    "I believe that a small population managed to survive, and we can see it. It seems this species comes out during the first rain (of the season) and can't bee seen throughout the year, only in a specific time. In this period we had perfect timing, me and him, that he came out towards the water," Malka told Reuters television.
    In 1996, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources declared the Hula painted frog extinct. Blaming habitat loss and fungal disease, the IUCN believes nearly a third of the world's amphibian species are endangered or extinct.
    The Israeli nature authority said it appears the Hula painted frog bounded back after more water was diverted to the Hula region three years ago to reverse the ecological damage caused when the marshes disappeared.
    The frog sports a dark belly with small white spots, and other colours include ochre and rust grading into dark olive-grey and grey-black.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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