Source: Lollihops
For the first time at a facility in the UK, we bred Asian bullfrogs in captivity at Slimbridge.
This large burrow frog is found naturally throughout Asia, living in moist wetland habitats. It is known as a bullfrog because of the ‘moo-ing’ it makes to attract a female. Frogs spend most of their time underground, occasionally coming out at night and emerging only to mate with females.
We recently designed a new tank for our Asian bullfrogs to encourage them to come out of their burrows and breed. The tanks include showers, steadily controlled temperatures, varying depths of water, and the plants you would expect to find in their natural habitat in Asia.
“We decided to recreate the natural habitat for the Asian bullfrog by increasing rainfall in August to mimic the Asian monsoon season,” said Jay Redbond, WWT Slimbridge amphibian expert. Thanks to the weather in the UK, we also had a storm in August that resulted in a drop in climate pressure and lows and saw males come out of the burrow and start calling to mate to attract a female. . ”
In August, Asian bullfrog eggs appear in the tank and within a few days they hatch into tadpoles. Tadpoles have a good appetite and our first two baby frogs appeared a few days ago.
Although the species itself is not endangered, it is their natural home in Asia. Due to habitat loss and destruction due to logging and farming, their natural wetland habitat is being lost at an alarming rate. They are also under pressure from the European pet trade and thousands are collected from the wild each year.
“What is really important to us is that we are inspiring and educating the next generation to care more about our wetland habitat and the creatures than living in it,” says Jay. That’s why we have such a large collection of amphibians at Toad Hall in Slimbridge.”
“We’ve been raising Asian bullfrogs for over ten years and it’s important to us that we can breed them in captivity so we can maintain a small, sustainable population here,” says Jay. not affect the pet trade.
Visitors hope to get a chance to see our newly emerged young Asian bullfrogs in December at our daily amphibian talks at Toad Hall at 2:15 p.m. day and 12:30 on weekends and school holidays.
