HUNDREDS OF SMALL Natterjack toads, Ireland’s only native toad, are being released into the dunes in Inch, Co Kerry this week in what will be “a first” for Ireland’s newest national park, Páirc Náisiunta na Mara.
Low temperatures this year did not favour the species and the battle to save the toad was harder than ever.
However, a thousand natterjacks have been bred in captivity in Dingle Oceanworld this year, in a volunteer breeding programme by the marine centre in conjunction with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).
The strings of spawn and tiny toad tadpoles were gathered by conservation rangers of the NPWS from ponds in and around Castlegregory and brought to the centre’s hatchery in May.
“Once they lose their tails and grow their legs, they are fed on fruit flies, “director of the Oceanworld programme, marine biologist Kevin Flannery explained.
They are strong enough now to be released back individually, he said.
Ponds drying out too early is a threat to Ireland’s only toad. The wet summer this year favoured the shallow ponds, but the cold did not, Flannery explained. Some were in a very poor state and there was a lot of work in bringing them on in the hatchery, he said.
Ireland’s native toad is named after the sound of his distinctive mating call. The distinctive striped toad (Bufo calamita), runs rather than hops.
Unique to coastal Kerry, they are under threat from changing agricultural practices in the area as well as climate change.
Over the past 10 years, the natterjack toad project in collaboration with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and local farmers has seen shallow ponds dug in farms in the Castlemaine Harbour and Castlegregory area where the toad was once plentiful.
Minister for Nature and Heritage Malcolm Noonan will be on hand tomorrow to release over 500 Natterjack toads at Inch on Tuesday morning with local children and others.
“This is also the first time for our precious toadlets (are) to be released into Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara, Ciarraí, Ireland’s newest National Park. All of us hope that the Páirc, with its spectacular sand dunes here at Inch is a place where they can continue to breed and thrive.”
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 natterjack spawn and tadpoles in the wild can be greater than 90%.
NPWS has been working with Dingle Oceanworld and Fota over the past seven years to explore if captive rearing can be used to boost the natterjack population at Inch. The Captive rearing programme has shown a reduction in the mortality rate of this endangered species to less than 25%. it is estimated.
Fota said it has released 2,125 toadlets this year with approximately 400 more still to be released in the coming weeks.
“The captive rearing programme has provided a valuable boost to the population over the past seven years. However, longer term survival and breeding rates of the toads are still dependent on many other factors,” toad expert Dr Ferdia Marnell of the NPWS said.
“The location of this unique habitat and flagship sand dune system at Inch within Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara, Ciarraí presents new opportunities for research into how we can further enhance conditions to protect them.”
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