12-05-2025
UK's loudest amphibian is making a noise at South Downs National Park
The UK's loudest amphibian — the natterjack toad — has made a 'remarkable comeback' in the South Downs National Park after a conservation project to provide suitable habitats for the noisy creature.
A total of 28 toadlets have been counted at Blackmoor, Hampshire, since the reintroduction programme started in 2021.
This is the first time that natterjack toads, whose distinctive rasping call can be heard up to a mile away, have been recorded breeding at the site in 50 years.
Before this, the toad had been found on only a single site in the national park, at Woolmer Forest, Hampshire. In neighbouring Sussex, the toad is considered locally extinct.
Work to provide new suitable territory, led by the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) charity, has
