Yesterday (Tuesday) in the early morning hours, over 250 black-bellied toad frogs - a species in danger of extinction - were released throughout the Hula Nature Reserve from the breeding nucleus at the Biblical Zoo.
About 250 tadpoles, 18 one-year-old frogs, and 12 individuals that have not yet completed the metamorphosis process were released into the reserve. The frogs and tadpoles will join the hundreds of individuals living in the reserve.
The Nature and Parks Authority hopes that in the future they will be able to return additional individuals to nature and establish additional populations in and outside the reserve.
In 2011, Yoram Malka, a veteran ranger at the Hula Nature Reserve, found an individual of the black-bellied round-tongued frog, which until that day had been considered an extinct species for decades and was even declared extinct in 1996 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The round-billed ibis almost disappeared from the landscape, with the main causes of its extinction being the drying of the water and the destruction of its habitats.
The discovery was joyful at the time and aroused great excitement. The species, whose name is derived from the structure of its short, round tongue, which is not removable from its mouth, and its black belly, was transferred to a breeding nucleus, and over time two breeding nuclei were established for it: one in the Hula Nature Reserve and the other in the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem.
The Israel Nature and Parks Authority built designated habitats for the species in a closed compound for research purposes, and an additional site was allocated where the round-billed terns could grow without human disturbance.
""There are about 250-300 individuals of the common toad living in the wild at the site adjacent to the reserve," explains Yoram Malka. "We hope that the frogs released today will be added to the population and that in the coming years we will be able to see more and more individuals.".
At the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, they say that over the past three years since the roundworms arrived, the zoo's staff has created a kind of laboratory for growing roundworms to see what their preferred growing conditions are - from the temperature and vegetation levels to the size of the grasshoppers they like to eat.
When they first arrived, much of the hidden was revealed. The teams did not know the size of their eggs, or if they had any at all, and it was not even known how to distinguish between male and female. Slowly, through daily work and with quite a few challenges along the way, the fascinating details about this species were revealed, and the successful results led to very impressive breeding.
Following the discoveries and hard work, the zoo was able to house over 500 items, all native to the Jerusalem Zoo.
Yesterday, as mentioned, the Jerusalemites made their journey back home to the north. Ariel Kedem, the nature conservation coordinator at the park, who was responsible for caring for the frogs: "It was a great challenge and pure pleasure to see how we discovered more and more layers in the frogs' behavior until the successful and long-awaited result of establishing a functioning breeding nucleus. So this year, for the first time, we are not taking frogs from the wild, but returning them to the wild and to a new location in the hope of establishing a new local group.".
The Nature and Parks Authority invites the public to come and visit the Hula Nature Reserve and enjoy the flora and fauna in the reserve, but notes that there is a very low chance of seeing one of the unique round-tongued frogs.
""The round frogs are mainly active at night and like to hide, so they are very difficult to find, especially during the day when the reserve is open to the public," notes Ido Shaked, director of the Hula Nature Reserve. "However, every few years, visitors report to us that they have managed to spot one. Maybe you will be the next lucky one to see the elusive frog.".
