500 Natterjack toadlets will be released into the sand dunes at Inch this morning.
The toadlets have been released into Ireland’s eighth national park, Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara.
It’s part of ongoing efforts to halt the decline of the endangered species.
Later this morning, the Minister for Nature, Heritage, and Electoral Reform Malcolm Noonan will release the toadlets into the sand dunes on the Inch peninsula.
The release is part of a nature conservation project by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, which aims to halt the decline of this endangered species unique to the coastal areas of Castlemaine Harbour and Castlegregory.
Natterjacks are particularly vulnerable to predators, and also depend on shallow ponds for their survival at an early stage of their development; the mortality of spawn and tadpoles in the wild can be higher than 90%.
Over the past seven years, a collaboration between Dingle Oceanworld and the NPWS has attempted to boost the natterjack population by captive rearing.
Each year, NPWS staff collect toad spawn and/or tadpoles from Inch in April and May and bring them to Dingle Oceanworld, where they are reared in special holding tanks and then they are released again into the wild in July and August.
It’s estimated this partnership has reduced the natterjacks’ mortality rate to less than 25%, and today’s release will bring to 2,500 the number of toadlets released into Inch this year, and 8,500 over the last seven years.
They are also being released into the sand dunes within Ireland and Kerry’s newest national park, Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara, which it’s hoped will provide another level of protection to this endangered species.
