Key individuals include Simon Clulow, conservation ecology professor leading the project, with support from the University of Canberra's Centre for Conservation Ecology and Genomics; collaborators like Anthony Waddle tested similar brick-greenhouse designs.[1][3] Funding comes from an Australian Research Council Discovery grant and ACT Government seed funding (2024-2028); partners include Symbio Wildlife Park and Symbio Conservation Foundation for frog releases.[1][5] About 450 frogs (first generation vaccinated, microchipped) were released into 15 experimental wetlands across Australia's Capital Territory, with control sites; early results show thriving populations one month post-release (as of February 2026).[1]
The species was widespread pre-1970s but went extinct in the ACT by ~1985 due to chytrid, which has wiped out 90+ frog species globally and 90% of its NSW range; survivors persist in warmer, saline spots on Australia's east coast.[1][2] Clulow's idea stemmed from PhD observations of frogs in warm brick holes, evolving from black-painted bricks to enclosed saunas after lab tests confirmed efficacy.[1][3]
Newsworthy now due to the largest real-world test underway—Phase 1 reintroductions in 2024, with ~450 frogs released this year amid promising short-term survival ahead of Australia's winter (Northern summer 2026), when cold boosts chytrid risk; scalable solution could aid hundreds of threatened species worldwide.[1][3]