REASEHEATH College’s amphibian specialists jumped to help frogs, toads and newts in a Leap Day campaign.

The event coincided with the college’s popular live lambing weekend when visitors could also take a look around the college’s own zoo.

Tours of the amphibian collection and talks by keepers were on offer as part of The Leap Day campaign - an international event organised by global conservation group Amphibian Ark.

The aim was to encourage people to learn more about amphibian conservation at a local zoo or educational institutions on or around February 29th.

Reaseheath’s animal management department has 20 species including endangered Mallorcan Midwife toads, poison dart frogs, Sardinian brook salamanders, sharp ribbed newts and a cane toad. The collection is housed in two purpose built tropical and cool rooms which are part of a new £4 million teaching centre at the college.

As well as meeting some of Reaseheath’s resident amphibians, visitors were encouraged to attract native amphibians into their gardens by building rockeries, log piles, wildlife ponds and bog gardens. There was also frog origami for children.

Specialist keeper Adam Mitchell said: “This has been a great opportunity to engage the public in the work we are doing here to conserve amphibians. We’ve also been able to show off our new facilities. Our visitors have been very interested and will hopefully take some ideas home.

“Amphibians are a globally important group dating back 350 million years, well before dinosaurs. They are important because they eat a huge amount of insects which could devastate crops. They are also in the middle of the food chain and provide, in turn, food for birds and snakes. If amphibians died out there would be a great knock on effect on other animals.”

Reaseheath’s zoo – one of the best college facilities of its kind in the country – houses more than 1,000 animals. Visitors were also able to see meerkats, lemurs, otters, birds of prey, reptiles, rabbits and guinea pigs.

The college’s animal management students have also launched a Herpetological and Entomological Society. Anyone interested in reptiles, amphibians or invertebrates can become involved, including members of the public.

The group plans to join toad patrols, where toads are assisted to cross roads as they journey to breeding ponds, and also to count spawn, which will help towards research, conservation and surveying. Visits are planned to events such as a venom day being held by Bangor University’s Herpetological Society.