On a recent visit to Aotearoa/New Zealand, I was told that Green and Golden Bell Frogs were regularly sold in local petstores. At Hollywood Fish Farm (Mt Roskill) I learnt that parents would regularly buy Bell Frog tadpoles for their kids so that they could watch them metamorphose and transform into spectacularly coloured frogs. Often they would be simply released into a local pond once the kids lost interest.

The Green and Golden Bell Frog (Ranoidea aurea – previously Litoria aurea) was introduced from Sydney to Aotearoa in the late 1860’s by the Auckland Acclimatisation Society. Since then, these frogs have become naturalised in the upper regions of the North Island.

Similar to populations in NSW where they are classified as Endangered with a 90% population decline, the Green and Golden Bell Frogs in Aotearoa also experience population reductions and fluctuations from the Chytrid fungus. However, these populations seem to be less vulnerable to the disease than their Australian counterparts.

This particular frog diaspora seems to be more functionally resilient, but cliamte change may alter this.