Hula Painted Frog!

 A few months ago I was fortunate to see, for the first time in my life, one of the rarest amphibians on earth, Hula Painted Frog. It was thought to be extinct after the Hula lake was drained in the 1950's. Amazingly, it was rediscovered in the Hula Nature Reserve in 2011 by INPA ranger Yoram Malka. Since then, it was found only in a handful of sites in the Hula Valley, with an estimated global population of not more than 400 individuals! I visited one of these sites on a fine evening, well it wasn't really fine because the war with Hezbollah was still raging in northern Israel, explosions and sirens all around me... It took a little bit of searching but eventually I found several large, fantastic males. They are very large and heavy with an awkward head shape, maybe not the prettiest amphibians in the world but certainly so very special.

Hula Painted Frogs are believed to be silent or non-vocal in frequencies that are audible to our ears. I heard a vocalisation that I believe *could* be the first sound recording of this species - listen to it here. Please note that date and location are deliberately inaccurate, to protect the animals. The vocalistion I recorded came from the exact direction where I saw a Hula Painted Frog. As soon as I switched on the torch it became silent, and resumed calling when I switched it off. Therefore I can't be sure 100% it's a Hula Painted Frog. A few amphibian experts listened to my recording - some agreed and some disagreed, saying it's a funny call of Levante Water Frog. I don't know.