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The Final Word on Frogs in Ireland
Frogs Everywhere ­ Especially in the Garden Pond

For Release - 29th August 2003

The Irish Peatland Conservation Council's Hop to It Irish Frog Survey 2003
has ended and the report on the outcome of the survey has been published.
Overall, the survey was very successful and a great response was received
from the public.

A total of 1,502 records were received from members of the public between
December 2002 and June 2003. Many of these reports came from areas with no
previously published frog records.

Frogs were found in every county in Ireland but were restricted in their
distribution in parts of counties Cork, Tipperary and Kilkenny. Also, South
Donegal and East Galway were poorly represented.

Despite this, a total of 416 10km grid squares of Ireland were covered by
the 2003 survey. 74 of these squares had no previously published records,
showing that this survey greatly extended the knowledge of the frog in
Ireland. Combining all results from previous frog surveys that have taken
place in the last 24 years yields 723 10km grid squares where frogs have
been recorded. This represents over 77% of Ireland's total land area.

For the up to date map on where frogs have been recorded in Ireland, visit
www.ipcc.ie.

One of the most surprising outcomes of this survey was the extent to which
garden ponds were used as frog breeding habitats. Almost 40% of records
received came from private garden ponds. This is almost double the
percentage obtained in a similar survey that was run by the IPCC in 1997.

IPCC's Conservation Officer, Noreen McLoughlin says "These figures suggest
that the garden pond is becoming increasing important to Irish frog
populations as their natural habitats in the wild are being lost by drainage
and peat extraction or polluted through the use of pesticides, herbicides
and fertilisers".

The report outlines a series of recommendations that should be undertaken by
Local Authorities, The National Parks and Wildlife Service and the general
public to help ensure the favorable conservation of frogs in Ireland. These
recommendations include:

* Setting up of a national biological records unit for the recording of
information on frogs.

* The use of signs on roads during the spring where frogs are known to
cross, as thousands of frogs are killed annually by cars as they make their
way to breeding sites.

* Sites that are known as breeding areas for frogs should be protected from
any damaging activities such as drainage and the use of chemicals. This
should apply both in the wild and in private gardens.

* The practice of removing frog spawn from the wild to keep in jars is
illegal, but it unfortunately continues. This should be discouraged through
a public awareness campaign run by the National Parks and Wildlife Service
and anyone caught in this act should receive a fine for failure to comply
with the Wildlife Acts (1976 & 2000).

The report on the Irish Hop to It Frog Survey 2003 is available on CD from
the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, Tel (01) 8722397. For more
information on frogs in Ireland, visit the website www.ipcc.ie.

IPCC are continuing to collect frog records on an on-going basis. If you
have any records, particularly for areas where records are sparse, please
send them into Noreen McLoughlin, IPCC, 119 Capel Street, Dublin 1.

The Hop to It Irish Frog Survey was kindly sponsored by The Heritage
Council, Clare County Council, Cork Corporation, Cork County Council,
Donegal County Council, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, ENFO ­ The
Environmental Information Service; The Environment and Heritage Service,
Northern Ireland; Galway City Council; Kildare County Council; Kilkenny
County Council; Mayo County Council; Monaghan County Council; Offaly County
Council; Roscommon County Council; South Dublin County Council; The Oakdale
Trust and Wicklow County Council.

ENDS