There is something quietly extraordinary about a frog call echoing across a restored wetland at dusk. For people who know what that sound means, and what it took to get there, it carries real weight.

The Growling Grass Frog (Litoria raniformis) was once a familiar presence across the wetlands and waterways of south-eastern Australia. Today it is nationally listed as Vulnerable under the EPBC Act, its numbers diminished by habitat loss, altered water regimes, disease and declining water quality. In many parts of its former range, it has simply disappeared.

That is why what is happening at Winton Wetlands in north-east Victoria matters so much.

Meet the Growling Grass Frog

Despite its name, the Growling Grass Frog is actually one of Australia’s more striking amphibians. It is large by local standards, reaching up to 10 centimetres, and is easily recognised by its bright green back marked with dark blotches, a pale belly and a distinctive dark stripe running through the eye. Its call is a low, rasping growl, which is where the name comes from, and during breeding season it can be heard carrying across open water on warm evenings.

It is also, ecologically speaking, a species that punches well above its weight. The Growling Grass Frog is considered an indicator species, meaning its presence, and its breeding success, reflect the broader health of the wetland system around it. When this frog thrives, it tells you that water quality is good, vegetation is functioning, and the hydrological cycles that underpin wetland life are working as they should. When it disappears, something significant has shifted.

Why Winton Wetlands

Located between Benalla and Glenrowan in north-east Victoria, Winton Wetlands has a story worth knowing. The site was once a water storage reservoir, decommissioned and left degraded for years. Over time, sustained investment and genuine commitment to ecological restoration has transformed it into a functioning natural swamp and wetland, receiving environmental water flows and supporting ongoing woodland recovery across the surrounding landscape.

It is exactly the kind of place where careful, science-led conservation can make a lasting difference. The wetland now supports a purpose-built amphibian breeding and quarantine facility, a dedicated interpretation centre for visitors, and an active restoration program. The groundwork has been laid thoughtfully and well.

Historically, the Growling Grass Frog was present in this region. The goal now is to bring it back.

How the translocation works

With support from FNPW, delivery partner Swamps, Rivers and Ranges, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA), and the Wettenhall Foundation, a carefully managed translocation program got underway in late 2025.

A cohort of 35 to 40 adult frogs was collected from an established population near Bendigo in central Victoria. After a 30-day quarantine and health screening at the Winton facility, they were released on site alongside the 25 frogs already living there, creating a founding population of 60 to 65 animals.

From there, monitoring continues through to March 2026, tracking survival, movement, habitat use and most importantly, whether the frogs are breeding. Breeding success is the real measure. It signals not just that the frogs have survived the move, but that the wetland is genuinely capable of supporting the full life cycle of a sensitive amphibian species. That is a meaningful ecological threshold.

More than one species

A restored wetland that can support a Growling Grass Frog population is a wetland that supports a lot of other life too. Waterbirds, invertebrates, native fish and riparian plants all benefit from the same conditions the frog needs. Investing in the recovery of an indicator species is, in a real sense, investing in the recovery of an entire ecosystem.

It is also about building knowledge. Every translocation generates practical data on quarantine protocols, release methods and monitoring approaches that will inform future recovery efforts across north-east Victoria and southern New South Wales, where the species has declined significantly.

A Future worth protecting

The Growling Grass Frog will not recover overnight. But with the right conditions, the right partners, and sustained care for the landscape it depends on, recovery is genuinely possible.

That is what this project is about. Not just returning a species to a wetland, but demonstrating that large-scale ecological restoration, done well and done with patience, can rebuild the complexity that threatened wildlife needs to survive.

When that growl echoes across Winton Wetlands again on a warm spring evening, it will mean something.

FNPW contributed $36,000 to support the translocation and monitoring program at Winton Wetlands, delivered in partnership with Swamps, Rivers and Ranges and DEECA.