The Johannesburg Zoo hosted the Flufftail Festival in light of World Wetlands Day

In commemoration of World Wetlands Day on February 2, the Johannesburg Zoo hosted the Flufftail Festival on February 7 to raise awareness about the critical role that water, and wetlands play in the ecosystem.

World Wetlands Day is celebrated to mark the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands that took place on the same date in 1971 in Ramsar off the Caspian Sea.

Why are wetlands important?

• They act as natural filters, purifying water.
• Home to diverse plant and animal species.
• Mitigate the impact of floods and droughts.
• Vital for carbon storage and climate regulation.

Pickers gill’s reed frog is an example of an amphibian that lives in the coastal lowlands of Kwa-Zula Natal between Sezela and St Lucia.

The zoo developed the frog rehabilitation programme to increase the population of the species. The reed frog species was given priority since it was placed on the IUCN’s red data as an endangered species owing to habitat loss.

The hyperolius pickersgilli preservation project premiered on March 19, 2021, on DSTV channel 180. The documentary promoted knowledge exchange, allowing communities to better understand how the hyperolius pickersgilli recovery processes work, as well as the significance of amphibian conservation and their role in the environment. To date, the Joburg Zoo has released over 600 frogs into their natural habitat.

Other facts about the species include:

• Male frogs grow to a maximum length of 22mm and females can grow up to 30 mm from tail to snout.
• Male frogs and tadpoles are usually brown, while females are light to bright green.
• Picker’s gill reed frogs are fast jumpers, hopping from leaf to leaf within their habitat.
• The species is critically endangered because of habitat loss and the decline in quality of its habitat due to pollution and development

Birdlife South Africa conservation biology intern, Marlize Muller in a presentation explained the importance of wetlands and the role Flufftail birds played in the ecosystem.

“The white-winged flufftail bird is a rarely seen, small, wetland bird with streaked, brownish plumage and broad white secondary wing feathers that render them conspicuous in flight. It lives in shallow, seasonally flooded wetlands and the only currently known breeding sites are in Ethiopia.”

Muller added that in South Africa, the birds made erratic appearances at high-altitude marshes in Mpumalanga, Free State, and KwaZulu-Natal.

This species is on the brink of extinction. Estimates of its numbers, such as they are, suggest a global population of less than 250 birds.

The zoo’s senior environmental specialist, Nathi Mvula concluded the Wetland Day commemoration by highlighting the importance of Reverse the Red Day which is also observed on February 7.

“We are looking forward to starting workshops with the staff, so they have a clear understanding of what it means. The project is a global movement to reverse the negative trends on ecosystems and biodiversity shown by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN). RTR seeks to support the government, municipalities, communities, and other organisations to set goals and deliver actions within the biodiversity framework. “

When the zoo talks about reversing the rate, it is referring to animals such as the Picker’s gill frogs, wattle crane, rhinos, and African wild dogs.

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