Experts Find Extinct Frogs in Israel

Experts have recently found two frogs of a species believed to be extinct in the Hula Valley, Israel. They decided to place the rare, vulnerable creatures in a protective facility. This action has a significant conservation value, since biologists only managed to identify five frogs of this kind throughout time, all of them in the same region.

In 1996, the International Union for Conservation of Nature declared them extinct. "The species now has another chance to survive," declared an official from Israel's Nature and Parks, WildlifeExtra.com reports.

Researchers thought the Hula painted frogs (Discoglossus nigriventer) had been wiped off the face of the earth in the 1950s, after a harmful prolonged drought changed the natural characteristics of their habitat.

Three years after the severe transformations, the marshes were re-flooded, and biologists believe this phenomenon saved the lives of a few members of this species.

This is not the first time when biologists thought that these rare frogs stood a chance of survival. In 2000, a representative from the Lebanese nature protection organization said he might have found a Discoglossus nigriventer while exploring marshes located near the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon.

His statement raised the interest of several conservation groups and, last year in August, a team of experts searched the area to investigate the rumor. Unfortunately, biologists from the Amphibian Specialist Group involved in the expedition came home disappointed and empty-handed.

The new finding proves that endangered species can still recover even if their habitat is exposed to continued environmental challenges.

At this point in time, approximately one third of the overall frog population is endangered or extinct, because of a wide series of factors, like habitat loss and deadly diseases.

Scientists now have all the reasons to think the fight to restore biodiversity isn't lost. As a result, they plan to organize more expeditions in remote areas, hoping to find other creatures of this kind.