This beautiful tree frog is restricted to a small area of New South Wales near the town of Yass, living in ponds, wetlands, and streams surrounded by vegetation. At night, males can be heard calling whilst floating in aquatic vegetation.  

Their precise location is kept secret for their protection, making Taronga Zoo the only place where you can see this rare frog.  

The disease caused by the chytrid fungus has seen frog populations around the world decline and go extinct, including the Yellow-spotted Bell Frog. It can be spread through water or direct contact with other frogs, attacking the skin and supressing immune response. Populations declined rapidly in the 1970s and was believed to have been extinct at the time.  
 
Today Yellow-spotted Bell Frogs are further impacted by loss of its habitat for agriculture, water pollution, and climate change. This frog is one of several amphibian species Taronga is working to protect from extinction. 

After 30 years without sightings, many scientists thought the species was lost forever. In 2009, a scientist surveying native fish discovered an unusual looking tree frog that was later confirmed to be the Yellow-spotted Bell Frog. 
 
A small number of frogs were collected by Taronga and transported to form an insurance breeding population under strict biosecurity conditions. This disease-free facility is designed to replicate wild conditions and provide optimum conditions for the frogs’ welfare and reproduction.