ABC News: Frog relocation

Shot of a large abandoned brick quarry, the ground waterlogged. Close-up of a green and golden bell frog.

GIULIA SIRIGNANI, REPORTER:

It once was a brick quarry, now it's home to hundreds if not thousands of endangered green and golden bell frogs. The frogs have posed something of a problem for Olympic planners - how to develop a site when it's a sanctuary for rare frogs? The answer? Create a new home in another part of the pit and flood the rest of the area with 300 megalitres of treated water to be used for irrigation and toilet flushing.

A woman stands at a podium in the quarry, addressing an audience.

WOMAN:

As part of this scheme, we're going to relocate some frogs from the lower levels of the Brickpit to new areas.

GIULIA SIRIGNANI:

The frogs will be moved at a cost of $650,000 under the guidance of the Australian Museum.

A man now speaks from the podium in the quarry.

MAN:

The objective of the whole process is to increase the numbers of frogs because it's an endangered frog.

A woman, at the edge of a pond in the quarry, measures a frog.

GIULIA SIRIGNANI:

But some experts have their concerns. Michelle Christy spent three years monitoring and studying the frogs who live in the Brickpit.

Michelle Christy is interviewed in front of a building signposted 'Zoology Building'.

MICHELLE CHRISTY:

Of course when you're destroying any habitat for any species there is going to be repercussions for the population.

Reporter Giulia Sirignani stands in front of a flooded area of the Brickpit.

GIULIA SIRIGNANI:

The Brickpit is home to one of the largest populations of green and golden bell frogs in the country. And the reason they love this place so much is that it's protected - protected from predators and from humans. But not forever. There are plans to integrate the Brickpit into the Homebush Bay parklands - not a good idea, say the experts.

MICHELLE CHRISTY:

There's also the problem of just rubbish and pollutants that can get into the water and just the normal everyday things that happen with people being around.

GIULIA SIRIGNANI:

Olympic planners say the environment wins through water conservation and recycling. The question is, will it also be a win for the frogs? Giulia Sirignani, ABC News, Sydney.