In South Africa, endangered frogs get another chance

In this photo taken Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018, a Pickersgill’s reed frog during a captive breeding period at the Johannesburg Zoo. Conservationists are monitoring the endangered frogs that were released later along South Africa’s coastline in the KwaZulu-Natal province where the species’ wetland habitat has come under severe pressure from human development. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

JOHANNESBURG — Conservationists are monitoring some 200 endangered frogs that were released along South Africa’s coastline after a captive-breeding program at the Johannesburg Zoo.

The release last month of the Pickersgill’s reed frogs happened in KwaZulu-Natal province, where the species’ wetland habitat along the Indian Ocean coast has come under severe pressure from human development.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust, a South African group, will follow the progress of the frogs, which were transported in plastic jars by road to their new homes near the city of Durban.

The Pickersgill’s reed frog is about 2.5-3 centimeters (1-1.2 inches) long. The males are smaller than the females.

The species was among those earmarked for help after a fungus killed many amphibian populations around the world in the early 2000s. /kga