Lanka finds 35 new species of frogs

AFP, Colombo
Conservationists in Sri Lanka, the world's top spot for frogs, have discovered 35 new species of the amphibians -- only to find that another 19 species have died out.

Sri Lanka's Wildlife Heritage Trust (WHT), in a report published today, blames habitat loss on the tropical island for the die-off.

"The ravages of habitat loss in Sri Lanka's once rain-forested wet zone have been severe, and there is a compelling argument for intensive conservation management of the surviving forest," the Trust's Rohan Pethiyagoda said.