Good year for ‘toad farmers’

Farmers have been congratulated for their role in the recovery of the endangered natterjack toads in Co Kerry.

A huge abundance of young toadlets emerging from breeding sites in the Iveragh and Dingle peninsulas has been recorded by staff of the National Parks & Wildlife Service of the Department of Arts, Heritage & the Gaeltacht.

The frog-like amphibians were categorised as endangered in the recent All-Ireland Red List, and their conservation status was assessed as unfavourable in Ireland’s recent national report to the European Commission.