Saving New Zealand's ancient frogs
A set of new resources is ready to provide a leap forward for young frog enthusiasts.
Aotearoa New Zealand is home to three remarkable native frog species: Archey’s frog, Hamilton’s frog, and Hochstetter’s frog. These pepeketua belong to the ancient Leiopelma genus, a primitive group of frogs that has remained largely unchanged for around 200 million years. Unlike their more familiar, introduced Australian cousins – such as the Southern Bell frog and the Brown Tree frog (Litoria ewingii) – New Zealand’s native frogs are often overlooked.
But a new project is aiming to change that.
From the team behind NZFrogs, a charitable trust founded by a group of passionate people to continue the legacy of frog expert Phil Bishop, comes an exciting new initiative: Pepeketua of Aotearoa. Officially launched on 10 February, the project is designed to educate and engage young people with native frog conservation.
Thanks to funding from the Unlocking Curious Minds Contestable Fund, NZFrogs has developed a series of bilingual educational booklets and posters that bring years of scientific research to life for a wide audience.
One of the project’s lead authors, Tobia Dale, has a deeply personal connection to the work.
“I started my master’s degree on native frog distributions and movement ecology in 2022 and worked with Debbie Bishop, the wife of Phil Bishop – the ‘frog guy’ of New Zealand. When Phil passed unexpectedly in 2021, I offered to volunteer my time to update the NZFrogs website and keep the information relevant.”
Tobia soon realised the task needed more minds. That’s when Hadley Muller, another researcher studying native frogs, joined the effort.
“One thing led to another, and NZFrogs became a registered charity. That allowed us to apply for funding,” Tobia explains. This saw the Pepeketua of Aotearoa project come to life.
The Pepeketua of Aotearoa project includes resources aimed at intermediate-aged children but accessible to all ages.
“We have made four booklets – one for each of the living native species and one for the extinct species. Each book tackles a threat or concept relating to each frog.”
For example, the Archey’s frog booklet explores adaptations to a terrestrial environment, while another booklet focuses on the three most recently extinct Leiopelma species – examining what made them special, why they disappeared, and how we can prevent history from repeating itself.
Each booklet comes with an A4 poster, and two larger special-topic posters – What Makes Our Pepeketua Special? and Protecting Our Pepeketua – are designed for libraries, classrooms, and even bedrooms.
“Creating Pepeketua of Aotearoa was a team effort,” says Tobia. It brought together passionate experts from different fields, including fun illustrations by Sarah Greig, translations from Te Ngaru Wehi, the scientific brain of herpetologist Luke Easton, wildlife photography by Oscar Thomas, and graphic design by Lucy Arnold.
NZFrogs also acknowledges the invaluable contributions of iwi partners Pare Hauraki, Ngāti Kuia, and Ngāti Koata, who helped shape the cultural and linguistic aspects of the resources, improving them so they would be a valuable resource in the community.
With this initiative, NZFrogs hopes to spark a nationwide appreciation for Aotearoa’s unique amphibians – before it’s too late.
“If just one other kid in New Zealand decides this is their passion, I’m happy. It just takes one person.”