Damian Goodall isn’t sure if he’s related to the famous Jane Goodall. His dad’s from England so who knows. But where Jane is a champion of chimps, Damian is a saviour of frogs, the fiendishly cryptic Baw Baw frog in particular.

Damian Goodall with a female Baw Baw frog at Melbourne Zoo. Credit: Rick Hammond

For the first time, after seven years trying, Damian Goodall, amphibian specialist with the recovery program at Melbourne Zoo, has finally bred the Baw Baw frog in captivity, taking one more step towards saving the burrowing sub-alpine dweller from extinction.

One of the heroes of the program was the humble garden slater, that little grey crawler that curls itself into a ball when disturbed. Slaters, loaded with calcium, were the magic food – the box of chocolates in courting terms – that managed to get the female frogs into healthy condition for breeding.

The first eggs from a love tryst – preceded by a clucking chorus of woo from the males – were laid last Monday. In four weeks or so, all going well, most of these eggs will be returned to a fungus-free spot on Mount Baw Baw.