Oversized, over here: Bullfrog hunt is on

Wildlife experts are on the hunt for giant American bullfrogs after the first breeding colony was discovered in Britain last year.

Wildlife experts are on the hunt for giant American bullfrogs after the first breeding colony was discovered in Britain last year.

These creatures, which can reach 8in, will eat almost anything they can get their jaws around and have a distinctive "cow-like" call. If unchecked they can devastate local wildlife.

There was alarm because of reports of huge tadpoles in a pond in East Sussex last September. English Nature confirmed that they were North American bullfrogs and began a control programme. So far, more than 7,000 have been removed from the site.

"There is only a tiny chance that the frog in your pond is a bullfrog," said English Nature's amphibian specialist, Jim Foster. "But we want to track down any remaining animals, particularly where there is a chance of breeding."