20 March 2023
Celebrate World Frog Day 2023 by learning about the frogs living in your local area and how you can help conserve them.
World Frog Day, celebrated on 20 March each year, aims to raise awareness of frog species around the world, their key role in healthy ecosystems, and how we can protect them.
Frogs play a central role in many ecosystems. They control the insect population and are a food source for many larger animals. Frogs can also secrete substances through their skin. Some secretions are beneficial and researchers have used some of them to create new antibiotics and painkillers.
Any decline in frog populations has a ripple effect on the surrounding wildlife, disturbing an otherwise well-balanced food web.
FACT: Frogs are the only remaining amphibians in Australia!
Declining frog populations
Australia has 246 native species of frog, many of which are in decline.
Threats impacting declining frog species include climate change, disease, habitat loss, urban development, and drought.
In Queensland alone[1],
- 11 Queensland frog species are listed as critically endangered
- 7 species are listed as endangered.
Whilst these numbers are worrying, there are many things you can do to help frogs in your local environment.
Get involved this World Frog Day
- Create a frog-friendly backyard by building a small, shallow frog pond or installing a frog hotel and reducing chemical use in your garden.
- Become a citizen scientist and contribute to important research. Head into your backyard or local environment and record frog calls with the FrogID app.
- Learn more about Australia’s many frog species by purchasing A Complete Guide to Frogs Of Australia from our Wildlife Queensland shop.
- Read more about Queensland’s frogs, the threats they face and what you can do to help them.
Announcing the winners of the 2023 Wildlife Queensland Froggy February Photo Competition
Throughout the month of February, as part of our #froggyfebruary photo competition, we encouraged everyone to head outdoors and capture the beauty and diversity of our frogs and their environment.
Today, we’re celebrating World Frog Day with the announcement of our photo competition winner and two runner-up entries, featuring information about the frog species they photographed.
Visit our Froggy February Photo Competition page for full details.
[1] As of November 2021