As the ponds around Dolphin Beach have continued to dry out over the past few weeks the African clawed frogs (commonly known as the Cape platanna) have surfaced, driven by the instinct of survival.
A mass frog-dispersal event occurred somewhat unexpectedly last Monday evening (30 January) during the rains, when tens of thousands of frogs crossed the R44 at Heartlands Precinct towards the dam at The Sanctuary Shopping Centre in Somerset West.
The event is usually anticipated when the first rains of the season come down around March every year, but was clearly not the case this time round.
A minor migration of tiny baby frogs across the R44 between the Paardevlei precinct and the dam at The Sanctuary shopping centre resulted in the partial closure of the road on Sunday (13 March).
A new subpopulation of the critically endangered Micro Frog (Microbatrachella capensis) has been found in the wetlands in the Nuwejaars Wetlands Special Management Area (NWSMA).