200 of Ireland’s rarest amphibians are being released in West Kerry this afternoon.
The natterjack toadlets have been bred through a joint conservation project between the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Fota Wildlife Park.
The project aims to protect the endangered species and work with the local farming community to return it to its natural habitat.
The natterjack toad is originally native to Kerry, and specifically the areas of Castlemaine Harbour and Castlegregory.
The natterjack toad population has declined over time due to land reclamation and as agricultural practices changed.
The natterjack has a mortality rate of 90% in the wild, and the animals need access to shallow, sunny ponds to breed and avoid predators.
This joint conservation project between the NPWS and Fota involves parks and wildlife staff collecting spawn and eggs from ponds, then bringing them back to Fota where they are cared for and reared in special holding tanks.
The toadlets are then released into ponds that were specially created for them by local farmers here in their native Kerry.
Over 7,000 toadlets have now been released since the project began seven years ago, including 1,600 into specially-created ponds in Castlegregory this year alone; that’s including today’s release.
Dr Ferdia Marnell from the NPWS, outlines why the natterjack is so important:
Minister for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan, TD, left, Brid Culhoun, NPWS, Will Hunt NPWS, Sean McKeown, Director Fota Wildlife Park, John McLoughlin, Fota Wildlife Park, Dr Ferdia Mansell, NPWS Tommy Reidy, Farme Castlegregory, after releasing Natterjack toadlets back to the Kingdom – 200 Natterjack toadlets were released today onto a local farm in Castlegregory, Co. Kerry, as part of a joint project between the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Fota Wildlife Park, which aims to bring this endangered species back to its former home. The project has to date released over 9,000 toadlets in Co. Kerry. Photo: Valerie O'Sullivan/FREE PICS/NPWS/08/08/2023
John McLoughlin, Fota Wildlife Park, left, and Organic Farmer, Tommy Reidy, Castlegregory, goint to the site to release Natterjack toadlets back to the Kingdom – 200 Natterjack toadlets were released today onto a local farm in Castlegregory, Co. Kerry, as part of a joint project between the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Fota Wildlife Park, which aims to bring this endangered species back to its former home. The project has to date released over 9,000 toadlets in Co. Kerry. Photo: Valerie O'Sullivan/FREE PICS/NPWS/08/08/2023
John McLoughlin, Fota Wildlife Park, Minister for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan, TD, right, with Organic Farmer, Tommy Reidy, Centre, Castlegregory, and Sean McKeown, Director, Fota Wildlife Park, going to the site to release Natterjack toadlets back to the Kingdom – 200 Natterjack toadlets were released today onto a local farm in Castlegregory, Co. Kerry, as part of a joint project between the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Fota Wildlife Park, which aims to bring this endangered species back to its former home. The project has to date released over 9,000 toadlets in Co. Kerry. Photo: Valerie O'Sullivan/FREE PICS/NPWS/08/08/2023
