The Zoo’s five Maud Island Frogs received their three month health check this week and the results are looking good!
Maud Island Frog receives health check
The frogs arrived in April this year and now reside at Meet the Locals He Tuku Aroha. They can be a little tricky to spot due to their nocturnal nature, so some of these pictures will give you a better idea of what you’re looking for.
During our latest health check with the frogs, Keepers discovered our juveniles have dramatically grown in size and are looking really healthy.
Health checks are a great way for our Veterinarian Team to assess each individual frog’s body condition and we can take x-rays to compare from previous health checks, and monitor their overall health.
While our Keepers monitor the frogs’ habitat closely, we are also able to make adjustments to the frogs’ habitat during these health checks.
Maud Island Frogs can be tricky to care for as their habitat needs to be set at the perfect temperature with high humidity, and it needs plenty of rock crevices for the frogs to burrow and hide in amongst the leaf litter during the day.
We try not to disturb the frogs too much in their habitat, so our Keepers don’t handle the frogs for long, which is also why the health checks are only carried out every few months.
The Maud Island Frog is one of New Zealand’s four surviving native frog species, all of which are nationally endangered. Due to their reclusive and nocturnal behaviour, there hasn’t been a lot of research carried out on Maud Island Frogs. These health checks are vital for learning so we can increase our knowledge about how to care for New Zealand’s other endangered frog species.
Elise Maxine and Chye Mei searching for frogs in the leaf litter
