Rare frog species may be extinct

A RARE species of frog found on Tai A Chau may have been wiped out if its breeding grounds have been destroyed by the Vietnamese camp, a wildlife expert said yesterday.

Ecologists are planning a trip to the picturesque island as part of a two-year territory-wide biodiversity study. And they have not ruled out the possibility of discovering a unique species on the largest of the Soko Islands.

Tai A Chau has been closed to outsiders for the past seven years, so biologists are particularly anxious to visit the site.

Hong Kong University researcher Michael Lau Wai-neng said: 'We don't know the current situation on the island. We don't know whether the camps have affected or destroyed some habitats. That's why we're keen to go back.

'I'm not expecting to find any big surprises, but we don't know very much about wildlife ecology in Hong Kong. There is a possibility there could be a unique invertebrate there.' Mr Lau, a reptile and amphibian expert, said Tai A Chau's most interesting species was the taipei frog.

'When I went there in 1987 we found quite a variety of reptiles and amphibians, including the taipei frog which is quite rare in Hong Kong,' he said. 'I only know of three locations, excluding islands, where it is found.