Tucked away in the alpine region of the Kosciuszko National Park, 80 frogs are settling into new homes as scientists race against the clock to protect these valuable animals from extinction.

The spotted tree frog is critically endangered in NSW, just one step away from being extinct, and is one of many species battling a range of threats, including diseases and changing climate. This year, the NSW government released 80 spotted tree frogs into Kosciuszko National Park after they were severely affected by the unprecedented 2019-20 summer bushfires.

NSW Minister for Environment James Griffin said the species disappeared in the state in 2001 due to the chytrid fungus that almost wiped out the southern and northern corroboree frogs. Through work between the government’s Saving our Species program and the Amphibian Research Centre in Melbourne, the frogs have been given a second chance.

“In 2015, our threatened species experts released spotted tree frogs from this breeding program into the wild, and it’s estimated that there were between 250-300 frogs in the wild,” Griffin said. “Tragically, it’s estimated that only about 10 of those frogs survived the devastating 2019-20 bushfires.”

Department of Planning and Environment senior threatened species officer David Hunter said the fragile alpine ecosystem where the frogs lived was unique to NSW and Victoria and featured native wildlife found nowhere else on Earth.

“The spotted tree frog is fundamental to the maintenance of ecosystem health in the NSW upland rivers where it lives. It occupies many streams where they are the only frog species, and tadpoles of this species consume nutrients and algae in large numbers,” Hunter said.

“They are also food for other species such as snakes, birds, mammals and predatory invertebrates, playing an important role in the food web.”

Only 12 populations of the spotted tree frog have been located in Victoria, predominantly on the north-western side of the Great Dividing Range, between the Central Highlands and Mt Kosciusko in NSW.