An endangered frog living in the middle of South Africa's Cape Town

It is barely the size of a thumbnail, and if you're not looking very closely you might miss what everyone has come here to see, the endangered South African micro frog.

This twilight guided tour, organised by environmental education organisation, Nature Connect, is taking place at a horse racing track right in the centre of Cape Town.

Not quite the place one might expect to find wildlife, but the vast wetland in the middle of Kenilworth Race Course is a biodiversity hotspot.

Twice each winter conservationists bring people to the 52-hectare conservation area to see species you wouldn't expect to find in the middle of the city.

Julian Alex Nieto Lawrence, a herpetologist for the amphibian conservation group Anura Africa, says the tiny frog is very special.

"The micro frog is a unique species because, for one, it is the smallest frog in South Africa, but it also has no sister species. It’s the only species within its genus which makes it incredibly unique and very irreplaceable,” he says.

“Often you have these wetlands with lots of sister species that fill similar ecological roles but this frog doesn’t have those. If this frog were to go extinct then there would be no functional replacement for it.”

The endangered micro frogs, also known as Cape Flats Frog, are a highlight of the night walk and according to the IUCN group of international conservationists their numbers are decreasing.

Now in the winter, the males call out so that females can locate them and breed. For the rest of the year the micro frogs hibernate.

But while the frogs are the top attraction, they are not the only creatures that call the race track conservation area their home.

“We have about 11 different types of amphibians, about 27 different types of mammals that we have, and about 110 or so different bird species that come and visit this site,” says Braden Ingram, Training officer, Nature Connect/

This includes the baboon spider, the Cape sand frog, Cape burrowing scorpion, and the Cape dwarf chameleon.

Surrounded by mountains and two oceans, there is so much wildlife literally in the city, including the Cape Floral Kingdom, giving residents the opportunity to connect with nature.

“They don’t have to leave Cape Town to experience wildlife. There’s so much wildlife literally in the city. And, these little pockets of habitat basically gives people the opportunity to come to nature reserves,” says Fayruz Prins, assistant conservation officer for Nature Connect.

Matthew van der Bijl says he works in technology and is seated at his computer every day so looks for any opportunity to get into nature.

“I think we’re really privileged in Cape Town where within 20 minutes you can get to a place like this where after a long day at work you can kind of just switch off," he says.

Once found in wetlands across the Western Cape, today the race track is the last remaining stronghold for the 18mm long micro frog.

While the conservation area is privately owned by the race track company and managed by Nature Connect, steps are underway to designate it a nature reserve.

This will ensure easier public access, and greater protection for the micro frog and myriad other species found in this pocket of urban wilderness.