Frogs Threatened with Extinction!

The wee, jumping, playful creatures in your garden may not be there on the train of life for long, unless active measures are taken to ensure its survival. Environmental scientists have been concerned with the existence of frogs on our planet against the environmental as well as anthropogenic stresses. Research studies conducted over the past few years reveal that dozens of frog species have already reached the brink of extinction while others are close to endangerment.

The first notable study on the demise of frogs was published in early 2006 in the reputed journal Nature. Led by J. Alan Pounds, a team of researchers investigated large kills of frogs as a result of the deadly amphibian, parasitic, chytrid fungus, which grows on the skin and teeth of frogs and also releases a toxin into their bodies. The research concluded the existence of a strong link between temperature rise due to greenhouse effect and the growth of the chytrid fungus. Over 70 species of amphibians, including the golden toad, vanished due to the rise in global temperatures in the 1980s and 90s. The disappearance of more than 65 harlequin frog species was the most pronounced with the highest increase (peaks) in temperature.

As more studies confirmed the relation between the disappearance of frog species and global warming, conservation biologists designated the year 2008 as ‘The Year of the Frog’. The coming extinction of amphibians, primarily frogs, was thought to be the largest mass extinction since that of the dinosaurs in the late Cretaceous period of earth’s history – around 65 million years back in time. A group of eco-friendly organizations including the IUCN and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) started the Amphibian Conservation Action Plan (ACAP) in order to protect the habitat of amphibians while also attempting to find solutions to the major existential threats to these life forms. But now, a new study, published in New Scientist (January 2009), warns of another major threat to the existence of frogs in particular – the problem of massive consumption of frogs for feeding humans.

David Bickford of the National University of Singapore draws the attention of conservation biologists/ecologists toward the strikingly large quantities of frog meat consumed worldwide each year, resulting in a dangerously high pressure on the already stressed populations of frogs. It turns out that the United States and France are the two leading importers of frog meat for their food markets with France alone importing up to four thousand tons of frog meat annually. The figures are no less alarming for frog harvesting in Asian countries. For example, in Indonesia, the leading exporter of frogs, around a billion frogs are consumed each year. Belgium and Luxemburg also remain avid importers of frog meat. In the US and other frog-importing countries, the local forg populations have alarmingly reduced (hence the import) via large scale culinary consumption. Feeding on frogs on such a scale certainly has created doubts about their extinction due to an overwhelmingly large scale of harvesting.

The environmental pressures combined with human consumption have seriously endangered the long-term survival of frogs on our planet. It is worthwhile to mention that the ecological significance of frogs goes way beyond biodiversity. Frogs remain an important component of the food web as they prey on insects (clearing the surroundings for better plant and animal growth) and are eaten by larger organisms (ensuring their survival). Certain body parts of frogs are also used in medicines used for human diseases. The survival of frogs is getting helplessly dependent on us. It makes sense then to skip the frog items on your favorite restaurant’s menu on your next gourmet venture. After all, you do not want your garden to look while the evening shadows cover the horizon.

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