The Hula painted frog is a species of frog endemic to the Lake Hula marshes in northern Israel. It is the only living member of the genus Latonia, which is otherwise known from fossils from Europe spanning from the Oligocene through Pleistocene. The Hula painted frog was thought to be extinct as a result of habitat destruction during the 1950s until the species was rediscovered in 2011.
Hula painted frog
The female specimen found in the 2011 rediscovery
The Hula Valley is an agricultural region in northern Israel with abundant fresh water that used to be Lake Hula before it was drained. It is a major stopover for birds migrating along the Great Rift Valley between Africa, Europe, and Asia.
A wheat field in the Hula Valley, against the background of Mount Hermon, March 2007.
Hula Valley farmland
Palestine Post article explaining the history of the Huleh Concession, 12 August 1937
Water buffalo grazing in Hula Valley