Matt West has spent much of his life wading through the cold mountain streams of northeast Victoria in search of a frog few Australians will ever encounter. The spotted tree frog, Litoria spenceri, is small enough to sit on a thumb, yet its survival has become one of the most complex conservation challenges in the country.

The spotted tree frog inhabits granite boulder streams stretching from Lake Eildon in Victoria to Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales, breeding in fast-flowing waterways between 300 and 1,100 metres elevation. Males grow to about 35 millimetres, females to 50. Their colouring ranges from bright green with gold flecks to mottled brown. In stable environments they can live for well over a decade. Stability, however, has become increasingly rare.

Photography Credit: Michael Williams. It's a Wildlife.

More Information

https://wildresearch.com.au/

https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/profile/768810-matt-west

https://www.zoo.org.au/

https://australiantroutfoundation.com.au/

https://www.nativefish.asn.au/

https://taungurung.com.au/

https://www.ddac.net.au/

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