CONSERVATION
Giving back to nature When done in a considered and informed way, human intervention can help animals survive and thrive. WORDS Stephanie ILLUSTRATIONS Phil
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he Crucifix Frog only mates during a rainstorm. The tiny, bright yellow amphibian – named for the multicoloured spots that speckle its back in the shape of a cross – lives most of its life underground, wrapped in a protective cocoon and burrowed in the soil of semi-arid floodplains. Until the rain comes, that is. Heavy downpours in their habitat – in south-western Queensland and northern New South Wales – flood the frogs’ desert burrows and rouse them from slumber, whereupon they shed their protective cocoons and head to the surface. There, they’ll feast on bugs and worms swimming in the temporary pools of rainwater – and find a companion frog to spend some quality time with.
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Convery Constantinesco
Breeding Crucifix Frogs in captivity, however, has proven a challenge. How to recreate the rainstorm conditions that encourage the frogs to mate? At Melbourne Zoo, the Crucifix Frog population had remained stubbornly celibate until a friend suggested to keeper Raelene Hobbs that, rather than wait for an actual thunderstorm, she try playing the frogs an audio recording of a storm instead. She found a 10-hour YouTube track of a tempest and left it on for the frogs overnight. And before long, Raelene had three clutches of eggs. Humankind has been the cause of so much environmental trauma and loss, it’s easy to think that all people have been able to do when it comes to the natural world is wreck things. But with continued research, intervention can assist species under threat and save potentially critical populations in the wild. Positive human
