Frogs Spas and Frog Saunas

Salvation from extinction in the unlikeliest of places.

In the wetlands surrounding Canberra, a quiet, metallic sound is returning after nearly half a century of silence.

This sound:

That cute little vocalizer is the green and golden bell frog (Litoria aurea), a species once as common in Australian as the morning magpie. However thanks to a deadly flesh-eating fungus the frog’s population was driven to near extinction in the early 1980s. The culprit was chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis), a devastating pathogen that wrecked havoc and decimated over 500 amphibian species across the globe.

But thanks to some work at the University of Canberra and the twin innovations of frog spas and frog saunas, the frog and their unique sound are back and heard.

“Chytrid is the worst pathogen ever” opined Dr. Anthony Waddle