Hochstetter's Frog

(Leiopelma hochstetteri)

Live:: Endemic to New Zealand, populations scattered around the North Island.

Habitat: Usually found beside mountain streams.

Diet: In the wild the frog eats a variety of small insects and other invertebrates, (Frogs are carnivores!). In captivity they are fed small live insects.

Conservation status: Vulnerable, rare and protected. Habitat loss, disease, introduced predators, climate change and pollution are the main threats.

General: Small, nocturnal and very well camouflaged, these are not the common frogs seen and heard near waterways around New Zealand. Those vocal green frogs are Australian introductions.

How do you tell native frogs from the Aussies?

Native frogs have no external eardrum and their hearing is poor, so it follows that they are less vocal than your 'average' frog! They may squeak. Their pupils are round, whereas those of the introduced frogs are more slitted.

The tadpole stage of development is almost discarded - the embryo develops inside the egg and at hatching is almost a fully-formed frog. It is believed that Hochstetter's frog follows this developmental process.

They are present at Hamilton  Zoo for 4 main reasons:

* To protect these individuals from the chytrid fungus (and other threats) which is seriously depleting wild populations

* To enable the keepers to develop husbandry skills and share their knowledge in turn with other amphibian conservationists

*·To breed

*·To allow us to educate people about native frog conservation