Forestry Corporation ecologists have spent the week walking through Bondo State Forest near Tumut calling ‘hey frog’ – The most effective survey technique for detecting the critically endangered Northern Corroboree Frog.

Amazingly, yelling 'Hey Frog' elicits a response from the frogs, which call out in response.  Without this technique, the frogs would otherwise remain hidden in the wetlands, said Rohan Bilney, Senior Field Ecologist with Forestry Corporation.

The survey program in the Bondo State Forest is part of a broader population monitoring effort across the species’ range where Forestry Corporation ecologists are collaborating with NSW Department Planning and Environment's Save Our Species program.

“In late summer, the male corroboree frogs will call out in response to us bellowing “Hey frog” in a deep voice — they are usually sitting in their nest defending their territory,” Dr Bilney said.

“So the survey method involves our ecology team essentially wandering through the swamps and bogs in the forest calling ‘hey frog’ to see how many we get calling back.”

The monitoring program has now been running for over 30 years to understand the health of the local northern corroboree frog.

“Throughout the previous decades we have had strong populations here in the Bondo State forest, however there has been a widespread decline across all populations, largely due largely to the disease chytrid fungus,” Dr Bilney said.

“This year we are very interested to see how the population is faring, following drought, wildfires, the subsequent wetter weather since the wildfires and the ever-present threat of the chytrid fungus.

“If numbers continue to decline we may need to start looking at drastic options like captive breeding to ensure the species is able to persist.”

Forestry Corporation ecologists run a number of species-specific monitoring programs such as this to understand the health of threatened species on the State forest estate.

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