Exceptional discovery !

Exceptional discovery !

While I was shooting the ‘van Ham’ castle (see picture below), I made a very exceptional discovery in the pond of the castle : an exotic frog, totally unknown to me !

I went to the biological department of the university of Antwerp and showed them my picture.
A professor identified this amphibian as an African Clawed Frog and told me it’s an exotic species that is sometimes illegaly kept by some people as pet in an aquarium.
The specimen that I spotted must have been released from captivity.
How long this amphibian already lives there in the pond and if it will survive in the cold water, nobody knows.

The frog was only in my sights for maybe 2 or 3 seconds and I could only take one shot.
The picture is dark and far from perfect, but I got him and that's what count in this exceptional case !

*****

The African Clawed Frog is found throughout most of Africa but is generally plentiful in ponds and rivers within the south-eastern part of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Unlike the European green frog, this species spends its whole life in water, except for poking up its head now and then to the water surface.

It’s a voracious predator, extremely hardy and can easily adapt to many habitats.
So maybe there's still hope for this poor chap…..

Dutch name : Afrikaanse Klauwkikker
German name : Afrikanischer Krallenfrosch
Latin name : Xenopus laevis