A rare species of toad has been discovered in Stepaside following a campaign from the Herpetological Society of Ireland
Non-native to Ireland, the common toad is often found in parts of Europe, Asia and Africa, and it still unknown whether the presence of the species here will have an impact on our native varieties.
A senior science officer at the HIS, Rob Gandola, said the toad, named Trevor, was the first one to be collected, and the society is asking the public to contact them immediately should they spot one on their travels.
“We are asking people in local communities, generally in Stepaside because that seems to be our ground zero, to keep an eye out for common toads by providing ways to distinguish from our native common frogs,” he said on RTE Radio 1′s Morning Ireland programme.
“We definitely think there is more, the big problem is we don’t actually know how many more there is and how far they’ve actually spread out along the foothills of the Dublin mountains.”
Gandola explained that the native natterjack toad the most endangered amphibian in the country and are often found in Kerry.
“The easiest way to tell the difference between the common toad and the native natterjack toad is that natterjacks will have a very obvious yellow stripe running down the middle of their back.
“You’ll see it immediately, it is very easy to distinguish,” Gandola said.
