00:01It's barely the size of a thumbnail and if you're not looking very closely you
00:06might miss what these people have come here to see the endangered South African
00:10micro frog. This twilight guided tour organized by environmental education
00:16organization Nature Connect is taking place at a horse racing track right in
00:20the center of Cape Town. Not quite the place one might expect to find wildlife
00:24but the vast wetland in the middle of the site is a biodiversity hotspot.
00:29The micro frog is a very unique species because for one it is the smallest frog
00:37in South Africa but it also has no sister species it's the only species within its
00:41genus which makes it incredibly unique and very irreplaceable. This was one of
00:48just two nights every winter that people can visit the Kenilworth Racecourse's 52
00:52hectare conservation area. At this time of the year the males call out so that
00:57females can locate them and breed and then they go into hibernation but while the
01:01frogs are the top attraction many other creatures live here.
01:04Probably the most important tiny little site in the whole of Cape Town with how
01:10much biodiversity actually is within this plant system itself. I have about 11
01:15different types of amphibians about 27 different types of mammals that we have
01:20and about a hundred and so, 110 or so different bird species that come and visit the site. So
01:26fantastically rich in all different types of life. This includes the baboon spider, the
01:32cape sand frog, the cape burrowing scorpion and the cape dwarf chameleon. Surrounded by
01:38mountains and two oceans there's so much wildlife literally in the city including the Cape
01:43Floral Kingdom giving residents the opportunity to connect with nature. I really look for an excuse
01:48to get out and do stuff like this. I think we're really privileged in Cape Town where you can be
01:5320 minutes and within 20 minutes you can get to a place like this where after a long day of
01:59work you
01:59can kind of just switch off because I work in tech so just close my laptop.
02:06Once found in wetlands across the western cape today the race track is the last remaining stronghold
02:12for the 18 millimetre long cape micro frog. It's currently red listed by the international union
02:17for conservation of nature which says its numbers are decreasing. While the conservation area is
02:23privately owned by the racetrack company and managed by nature connect steps are underway to designate it
02:29a nature reserve.
