Pickersgill’s Reed Frog Conservation

Project Budget

R235, 000

Project Background

Pickersgill’s Reed Frog (Hyperolius pickersgilli) is named after the herpetologist, Martin Pickersgill, who discovered the species in 1978 in Mount Edgecombe, Durban.
The frog is listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to the extremely small area it occupies, only about 10 sq.km in total.
It is found only in KwaZulu-Natal in small areas of the coastal wetlands. The frog is tiny, measuring up to 30 mm (just a little over 1 inch) in females.
The species is threatened primarily by habitat loss: only a few fragmented pockets of remaining habitat exist. The need to identify and protect remaining breeding Pickersgill’s reed frog habitats is crucial.
One of the four sites in Durban at which the species occurs is a small wetland at Widenham, next to Umkomaas, where Dr. Jeanne Tarrant and the Endangered Wildlife Trust are working with the eThekwini Municipality in a restoration programme.
Conservation KZN is a supportive partner at Widenham.

Project Duration

APRIL 2017 – MARCH 2019

• The Widenham site requires fencing, an access platform, signage and an ongoing maintenance programme.

Contact Details

Name: Conservation KZN in partnership with ENDANGERED WILDLIFE TRUST
Location: Widenham, Umkomaas area (See Google map below)
Contact person: Rob Crankshaw
Contact number: 082 9005993
Email: rob.crankshaw@rone.co.za
Website: www.conservationkzn.fishnet.co.za
Facebook @conservationkwazulunatal

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