Hundreds of natterjack toads to be released into Kerry dunes 

More than 500 natterjack toads will be released at Inch dunes on Tuesday

1,000 natterjack toads have been bred in captivity in Dingle Oceanworld this year, in a volunteer breeding programme by the marine centre in conjunction with the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Hundreds of small natterjack toads, Ireland's only native toad, are being released into the dunes in Inch, Co Kerry, this week in what will be "a first" for Ireland’s newest national park, Páirc Náisiunta na Mara.

Low temperatures this year did not favour the species, and wildlife experts say the battle to save the endangered toad is particularly challenging.

However, 1,000 natterjacks have been bred in captivity in Dingle Oceanworld this year, in a volunteer breeding programme by the marine centre in conjunction with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).

Usually, the project for the endangered natterjack is shared with Fota in Cork, but this year it has been left solely to Dingle, which is also involved in growing and releasing the European lobster.

The strings of spawn and tiny toad tadpoles were gathered by conservation rangers of the NPWS from ponds in and around Castlegregory and brought to the centre’s hatchery in May.

“Once they lose their tails and grow their legs, they are fed on fruit flies,“ director of the Oceanworld programme, marine biologist Kevin Flannery explained.

They are strong enough now to be released back individually, he said.

Greg Reidy of the NPWS and Maria Foley, head aquarist at Dingle Oceanworld, look at how the natterjack toad tadpoles are doing. Picture: Domnick Walsh 

Ponds drying out too early is a threat to native toad. The wet summer this year favoured the shallow ponds, but the cold did not, Mr Flannery said. Some were in a very poor state and there was a lot of work in bringing them on in the hatchery, he said.

Ireland’s native toad is named after the sound of its distinctive mating call. The distinctive striped toad runs rather than hops.

Unique to coastal Kerry, they are under threat from changing agricultural practices in the area.

Over the past 10 years, the natterjack toad project in collaboration with the NPWS and local farmers has seen shallow ponds dug in farms in the Castlemaine Harbour and Castlegregory area where the toad was once plentiful.

Nature Minister Malcolm Noonan will be on hand on Tuesday morning to release over 500 natterjack toads at Inch dunes.

“This is also the first time for our precious toadlets to be released into Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara, Ciarraí, Ireland’s newest national park. All of us hope that the páirc, with its spectacular sand dunes here at Inch is a place where they can continue to breed and thrive.” 

Natterjacks are particularly vulnerable to predators and also depend on shallow ponds for their survival at an early stage of their development. The mortality of natterjack spawn and tadpoles in the wild can be greater than 90%. 

The NPWS has been working with Dingle Oceanworld and Fota over the past seven years to explore if captive rearing can be used to boost the natterjack population at Inch. The captive rearing programme has shown a reduction in the mortality rate of this endangered species to less than 25%. it is estimated.

“The captive rearing programme has provided a valuable boost to the population over the past seven years. However, longer-term survival and breeding rates of the toads are still dependent on many other factors. 

"The location of this unique habitat and flagship sand dune system at Inch within Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara, Ciarraí, presents new opportunities for research into how we can further enhance conditions to protect them," toad expert Dr Ferdia Marnell of the NPWS said.