Rescue operation underway to save country's only native toad from dried up Kerry ponds

The natterjack toad is highly endangered due to changes in farming practice and climate change

The natterjack which is only naturally found in Kerry is a boom-and-bust species, breeding prolifically one year and not at all the next.

A rescue operation is underway in west Kerry to save Ireland’s only native toad, the natterjack, as the ponds dry up in soaring temperatures.

The season started well for the natterjacks, in the Castlegregory and Castlemaine harbour area, with lots of ponds full of water. Spawning and tadpole formation — erratic last year after the dry spring — went well.