In 1996, the IUCN classified this species as "extinct in the wild", the very first amphibian to be given that designation by the IUCN.[1][11] Israel continued to list it as an endangered species in the slim hope that a relict population may be found in the Golan Heights or in southern Lebanon. Following the rediscovery of the species in 2011, the IUCN now considers the frog to be critically endangered as its known habitat occupies less than 2 km2.[1]