DOC's work with frogs

Maud Island frog study area - showing
board walk and the shelter used for
weighing and measuring frogs

The Department of Conservation has a Native Frog Recovery Group that coordinates management and research into native frogs to help with their conservation. The impact of 1080 on native frogs has been investigated, methods for frog monitoring and translocation are being developed and improved, and frog distribution and numbers are being documented.

In 1997 three hundred Maud Island frogs were transferred to Motuara Island - the first-ever inter-island translocation of a native frog. To date, this transfer has been successful. Establishing a second population of the frog in another location is insurance against a disaster, such as fire, wiping out a sole surviving population. A separate population of Hamilton's frog has also been established on its home on Stephens Island and is monitored closely by DOC staff.