Sir David Attenborough 'inspires frogs to mate'
Sir David Attenborough visit clearly inspired the frogs
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Monday, 27, Oct 2008 09:06
Sir David Attenborough has proved once and for all he has a special connection with the animal kingdom.
Famed for his narration and presentation of television programmes on the natural world, his recent visit to London Zoo's reptile house has produced surprising results.
Eight mission golden-eyed tree frogs, which have been at the zoo for almost three years with out any physical interaction, mated during his visit and produced between 40 and 50 tadpoles.
Before Sir David's visit, the zookeepers had tried a number of different methods to encourage the frogs to mate without any success.
George Sunter, a keeper in the Zoo’s Reptile House said: "It is really exciting that we have bred these frogs for the first time. It’s a great coincidence that we moved them to time in with Sir David's visit – and that this seems to have moved the earth for them."
Sir David had actually been visiting the zoo to host a conference about the threat of extinction to the world's amphibians and the frogs had been placed in a new exhibit to coincide with his visit.
While the visit and the frogs mating is an amusing coincidence, the zookeepers actually believe the frogs finally mated due to the new humidifier in their new tank.