A species of frog native to Britain and found until the 1990s in East Anglia has been reintroduced to the area.
The disappearance of northern pool frogs (
Rana lessonae) from East Anglia in the 1990s didn't give rise to much concern at the time because back then they were commonly believed to be introduced. Subsequent research has shown that whereas other (surviving) populations of pool frogs in Britain are the results of introductions from central and/or southern Europe, the East Anglian populations were almost certainly native, belonging to a distinct northern European race still found in Scandinavia.
English Nature are coordinating the release project at a site near Thetford in Norfolk. Sadly they are not likely to become a garden animal any time soon since their exacting habitat requirements are likely to prevent them spreading far!
