Desert rain frogs threatened with extinction in southern Africa

The survival of a unique frog species that lives in the coastal sand dunes of South Africa and Namibia is under threat from diamond mining, the proposed Boegoebaai Green Hydrogen Project and climate change.

The desert rain frog ( Breviceps macrops ) has been moved to a higher threat category , from near threatened to vulnerable , on the IUCN’s Red List.

The change in the frog ’ s conservation status is based on assessments carried out by scientists from various Southern African universities and organizations.

“ [The species] has already experienced loss of its habitat from strip mining and these projected impacts don’t bode well for the species and the other unique biodiversity that occurs only in these coastal dune systems,” Jeanne Tarrant, executive director of Anura Africa, which supports amphibian conservation, and regional co-chair of the IUCN Amphibian Specialist Group for Southern Africa, told Mongabay via email.