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Legal protection for rare pool frog

Adult male pool frog. Image courtesy of Jim Foster, Natural England.Defra has today announced legal protection for a rare frog with a distinctive accent.

From 1 October 2008, the pool frog together with the lesser whirlpool ram’s-horn snail and the Fisher’s estuarine moth will be legally protected through the Habitats Regulations from being killed, taken, injured, disturbed, owned or sold, or having their resting or breeding places destroyed.

The pool frog has a long British history. Archaeological investigations reveal evidence from around 1000AD, with pool frog remains found around old Saxon sites in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire. However the last pool frog died in the 1990s after its populations declined to just one site in Norfolk. 

A partnership led by Natural England and The Herpetological Conservation Trust helped reintroduce the pool frog to a secret site in Norfolk three years ago, where targeted habitat restoration has produced ideal conditions. Frogs were imported from Sweden under special permission.

Minister for Wildlife, Joan Ruddock said:

“Working in harmony with nature is becoming more and more important as increasing demands are made on our environment. The UK’s native species need our support, and I hope today’s announcement will help give the pool frog a secure future.”

Further information

Page published: 30 June 2008