Extinct Frog re-discovered in Israel

We thought it had croaked.

The Hula Painted Frog, once believed to be extinct was seen for the first time in 50years this week. Omri Gal of Israel's Nature and Parks Authority said, "It's an amazing find, now we have a second chance to preserve the species."

The frog is native to the Hula Valley, a swamp drained in the 1950s to stop malaria.
It is believed that rehydration of the area is responsible for the frog sighting and it is possible that more frogs live in the reserve. However, this is only the sixth specimen ever collected of the Hula painted frog, and the species remains highly endangered.

The Hebrew name for the frog is "agulashon shehor-gahon," which refers to its black belly and round tongue

Habitat loss, climate change, pollution, and diease threaten amphibians worldwide. Over 40 percent of the world's amphibians are threatened with extinction, and over a hundred species have vanished in the last three decades alone.