Local mums and their children were left shocked by the sight of dozens of dead frogs roasting in Benhill Road Nature Garden, Camberwell.
While it’s normal for the garden’s pond to dry up in summer, it’s happened unexpectedly fast, and its amphibious residents have paid the ultimate price.
Linda Tibbets, local mum-of-two said: “It’s not just one dead frog – it’s loads. It does feel really relevant to what’s going on at the moment – it’s this visual representation of what’s happening and maybe what’s to come.”
Anne Roach, Volunteer at the Benhill Road Nature Garden, said while the dried pond was a factor, the frogs had been most affected by changes to their wider habitat.
“They live under shady logs and it’s suddenly 24 degrees under those logs. All the damp places are now dry places. The habitat loss has been affected on a more general scale it’s not just the pond”, she said.
While she said it was “gutting” that the frogs, which are common frogs, had died, she said many more will have survived.
She also said that pollinators and birds were likely to be affected by the sudden loss of moisture. As well as frogs, the pond is home to dragonflies and damselflies in the summer.
Ms Roach also said that although it had happened faster than usual, seasonal drying of the pond is normal.
Insects like dragonflies lay their eggs in the pond’s muddy bed which then hatch during the mid to late summer.
Benhill Road Nature Garden is a small garden, open to the public and run by volunteers, established by Southwark Council in 1982.