A frog species which can change colour has turned blue in the UK for the ‘first time in 700 years’.
Male moor frogs, which are widespread in Europe, turn blue in spring as they prepare to mate as it impress the females.
Staffordshire teenagers – Harvey Tweats and Tom Whitehurst – made history by creating a breeding enclosure in a small bath and played sounds of males mating so their frog thought it was surrounded by rivals and this made it turn blue.
Male moor frogs turn blue in spring as they prepare to mate but a pair of teenage reptile breeders believe they have recorded the first time this has happened in the UK for 700 years
The boys, who own breeding company Celtic Reptile and Amphibian, confidently declared: ‘It’s the first time one’s gone fully blue in Britain for 700 years.’
Ben Goldsmith, a Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) board member, funded the pair’s project.
He said: ‘These two boys are building up a captive breeding population of reptiles and amphibians native to Northern Europe but which are either rare or missing altogether from Britain.
DEFRA board member Ben Goldsmith (pictured) funded the teenagers’ project
‘As we begin the process of restoring long-lost wetlands the length and breadth of Britain it will be great to adorn them with these magical British species.’
Last year Mr Goldsmith, a well-known rewilding enthusiast, was accused of releasing red deer and wild boar on his farm in Somerset, damaging neighbours’ land.
Environment Secretary George Eustice later acknowledged the 39-year-old financier had made an ‘error’ in breaching guidelines on releasing wild animals.
