Four Years of the Frog Lab: 200 Tinkerfrogs returned to the wild, and counting

It’s 12°C inside the Frog Lab, so our Amphibian Conservation Specialists pull on their jumpers before they start work, even in November on the Gold Coast. The cold is on purpose. It matches the misty rainforest at Kroombit Tops, the only place in the world the critically endangered Kroombit Tinkerfrog calls home. 

This month marks the fourth birthday of the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary Frog Lab. When it opened in 2022, there were thought to be fewer than 150 Kroombit Tinkerfrogs left in the wild. Since then, 200 Tinkerfrogs bred and raised in the lab have been released back into Kroombit Tops National Park. 

Here’s how four years of hard work, cold nights and some very good dogs got the Tinkerfrogs this far. 

The Milestones So Far 

2020: A world first Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary became the first organisation in the world to breed a Kroombit Tinkerfrog in captivity. 

2020: Funding to build Support from the 2020 Australian Government Bushfire and Habitat Recovery package and the National Trust of Australia (Queensland) made a purpose-built breeding facility possible. 

November 2022: The Frog Lab opens The Frog Lab officially opened during National Frog ID Week, after years in the making. 

2023: The first release The first 24 Tinkerfrogs bred at the Sanctuary were released at Kroombit Tops National Park, with 29 more following soon after. The work is a team effort with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, the Queensland Frog Society, the Fitzroy Basin Association and the Australian Government. 

December 2024: Ash joins the search Ash the Springer Spaniel started training as a conservation detection dog, learning to find Tinkerfrogs by scent. 

May 2025: 145 released Another 38 Tinkerfrogs were released, the first release in cool weather and in daylight. One male started calling just an hour after release. Calls were also heard at an earlier release site, where 59 frogs had been released over two years. Two of the new frogs, Tiny Dancer and Cindy Leaper, were named by partners at Gold Coast Airport. The same year, author Sarah Eccleston released Tink Tink Tink, a children’s book about the Tinkerfrog and the team behind it. 

June 2026: The seventh release 22 more Tinkerfrogs were released, bringing the total to almost 200! Ash and fellow detection dog Poa picked up the scent of wild Tinkerfrogs in areas where the species was thought to be gone. The team also started building a feral pig exclusion fence around a second Tinkerfrog habitat, and collected creek silt to feed tadpoles back in the Frog Lab. 

November 2026: 200 and a new face The Frog Lab team passes 200 Tinkerfrogs released. Moose the working Cocker Spaniel, Currumbin Sanctuary’s Conservation Detector Dog, featured in Australian Geographic for his work helping find species that are almost impossible to spot. 

What’s Next 

The work doesn’t stop at 200. The Conservation Team will keep breeding, releasing and monitoring Tinkerfrogs at Kroombit Tops. Detection dogs like Moose could also help find Tinkerfrog eggs and tadpoles, which have never been found in the wild. 

Help Keep the Frog Lab Hopping 

The Frog Lab runs on care, time and a lot of tadpole food. Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary is a not-for-profit, and every donation goes straight into conservation work like this. 

There are two ways to help the Tinkerfrogs reach their next milestone: 

• Donate to conservation. Your gift helps breed, raise and release more Tinkerfrogs.  

• Shop the Kroombit Tinkerfrog wishlist. $35 feeds a frog for a whole year, and $90 buys an LED headlamp to help the team find frogs in the wild. 

Buttons: Donate Now | Shop the Wishlist