African Amphibian Conservation Research Group

01/10/2026

A ‘hop-less’ situation has turned into a hopeful one for an injured Guttural Toad called Sir Anthony Hop-kins thanks to the human heroes in his corner!

25/09/2026

Our group’s Prof Louis du Preez, Dr Fortunate Phaka and Dr Jeanne Tarrant have contributed to 3 chapters in this upcoming book on the global state of amphibian conservation. Dr Phaka is the lead author in 2 of those 3 chapters.

The book explores trends, challenges, and solutions in amphibian conservation with case studies, innovative tools, and policy insights.

24/09/2026

Case study on how Dr Phaka’s PhD work (supervised by Prof Louis) is relevant to international policy meant to protect natural and cultural heritage in addition to having societal benefits.
https://zenodo.org/records/22919471

Happy Heritage Day.

23/09/2026

The Vanishing Amphibian 🐸
We are quietly losing the world's amphibians. Data from the Global Amphibian Assessment reveals a grim reality: roughly 41% of the 8 000 known species on Earth face imminent extinction. To put that into perspective, we are looking at the most severe die-off since the loss of the dinosaurs, with up to half of all species potentially vanishing within our generation.
Pinpointing a single culprit for this global crash is impossible because frog populations are facing a multi-front assault. Urban sprawl and agriculture continue to carve up their native wetlands, while shifting climate patterns leave these highly sensitive creatures with nowhere to go.
Toxic runoff has poisoned their breeding pools, and to make matters worse, a ruthless skin fungus called chytrid is sweeping through entire ecosystems, leaving mass casualties in its wake.
📸: Joshua Weeber

18/09/2026

Anslem de Silva is widely regarded as the father of modern herpetology in Sri Lanka. He has spent more than six decades documenting the island’s rich reptile and amphibian diversity while mentoring generations of researchers. De Silva spoke with Mongabay contributor Malaka Rodrigo as he, at 86 yea...

09/09/2026

🐸 AmphiBios Issue 3 is now live!

The latest issue features the article “Spotlight on Threatened Rain Frogs in South Africa” by Prof. Louis Du Preez and Mr. Tiaan Botha.

The article explores the discovery of the Boston Rain Frog (Breviceps batrachophiliorum) and its implications for the conservation of Bilbo’s Rain Frog (Breviceps bagginsi), now classified as Critically Endangered.

With more than 75% of its natural grassland habitat lost to plantations and less than 1% of its global population occurring in protected areas, urgent conservation action is needed. Encouragingly, ongoing research and collaboration with landowners and Anura Africa are helping to inform future habitat management and protection.

Read the latest issue here:
https://amphibios.app/articles/spotlight-threatened-rain-frogs-south-africa


NWU - North-West University NWU Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences NWU FNAS Student Chapter NWU Water Research Group NWU Forb Ecology Research Group - FERG NWU Climatology Research Group_CRG African Amphibian Conservation Research Group

30/08/2026

Scientists have discovered seven new species of Madagascar’s elusive diamond frogs, using DNA from modern and century-old museum specimens to solve a long-running biological puzzle. The findings reveal surprising hidden diversity and could help protect these little-known amphibians as their forest...

29/08/2026

The wait is almost over.
Prof du Preez, Dr Phaka and Dr Tarrant from our group jointly contributed 3 chapters to this much anticipated book.

Amphibians are among the most threatened vertebrates on Earth. 'Trends and Challenges in Amphibian Conservation' brings together leading scientists and practitioners to examine the current state of conservation worldwide.

Link in the comments.

19/08/2026

Congrats to our PhD student Tiaan Botha for winning 1st prize for his talk at this year’s edition of the NWU UESM Postgrad conference.

18/08/2026

This is something a hungry frog would post.