Greencuisine’s Weblog

I knew 2008 was the Year of the Rat but, according to Wikipedia, it is also the International Year of Languages, the Planet, the Potato, Sanitation and The Frog. Beginning on Feb. 29^th (Leap Day) and lasting throughout the year, international public global awareness is being raised by Amphibian Ark (AARK) to save them. Why bother? Well, conservation biologists call amphibians “the canaries in the coal mine”. When frogs decline in the wild, it is a shrill emergency alarm for every species, including humans.

Googling “The Year of the Frog” I discover their situation really bad. Frogs are dying at a faster pace that anything we have ever experienced. This amphibian crisis is being compared to the largest single mass extinction since the dinosaurs disappeared. In fact, the World Conservation Union (UCN) estimates that 165 species are already extinct. Worse yet, 1/3 to ½ of the world’s 6,000 known amphibian species are near extinction and may disappear in our lifetime. Unfortunately, AARK claims the combination of habitat destruction, climate change, pesticides and a disease called Amphibian Chytrid caused by the Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis fungus (Bd) is wiping them out. The deadly fungus is travelling fast and uncontrollably all around the world. It stops frogs, toads and salamanders from breathing through their skin which kills them through suffocation. Actually, NO amphibian is safe. The remaining hope for many species is a captive breeding program at accredited zoos. Fortunately, I also learned that The Clorox Company has signed on as the first official corporate sponsor of Amphibian Ark’s 2008 program by donating funds and bleach ( a powerful fungicide)  to stop the spread. The AARK program hopes to get everyone involved this Leap year.

But, really, why are frogs important to humans? Digging deeper, I learn frog skin is full of useful chemicals which scientists are just beginning to understand. Frog slime has substances which may cure a variety of diseases, including AIDS and Staph infections. Frog skin peptides have blocked and killed HIV in lab studies even when the virus is hidden in dendritic cells. This may be the missing key for an AIDS vaccine. In Australia, chemicals from a Queensland frog skin healed sores. In Brazil, a dressing from a dehydrated Amazon frog skin reduced the healing time for burns and diabetic ulcers in half. In Ecuador, another frog chemical has been found to be 200 times stronger than morphine with all of the benefits and none of the side effects. This could be a great new painkiller. Saving valuable frogs for new human medicine is just another of the many reasons AARK say Frogs Matter. So, I jumped in.

Next, I discovered a website promoting the “First International  Conference on the Coqui Frog” which was held in Hilo Hawaii on Feb. 7-9, 2008. There it states that there are 16 species of the Eleutherodactylus genus (which in Greek means “free toes”) tree frogs in Puerto Rico with 13 species unique (endemic) to the island. Indeed, there are more than 500 Eleutherodactylus species in the Caribbean living throughout Mexico and down to northern Argentina, yet only in PR are all our species called “coquis”. Unfortunately, our beloved mascot, the common E. coqui,  has also spread to Hawaii where it is considered an invasive pest with huge efforts underway to kill it and its reputation. Anyone caught releasing coquis (you catch and kill) in Hawaii is charged with a Class C Felony and faces a $50,000-$200,000 fine and up to 3 years in jail. 

This rattles me when I also learn from Rafael Joglar’s article “Conserving the Puerto Rican Herpetology” (published in Applied Herpetology October 2007) that three for our local species (E. karlschmidti, E. jasperi and E. eneidae) have not been seen or heard in Puerto Rico since 1976, 1981 and 1990 respectively and are probably extinct due to a synergistic interaction between climate change (increased dry periods) and disease (Bd). Our Golden coqui is listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as Critically Endangered. So is our only native toad:  the Crested Toad. Once, it existed as two distinct populations- in the north and in the south- yet the northern toads have not been seen in the wild since 1988 . The only known wild population remains in the Guanica National Forest.  In 1984, A Species Survival Plan (SSP) was developed through the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) for our Toad with captive breeding programs coordinated among 20+ zoos. Between 1982-85, 1,300 toadlets were shipped to the island for release in the Cambalache National Forest and between 1997-2005, another 90,000 were released in Guanica. Still over the past 15 years, the southern population has dwindled to about 200 adults. In an effort to reach and teach the local public, an exhibit featuring zoo-raised toads is on display at the Dr. Juan A. Rubero Zoo in Mayaguez.  Jen Stabile from the Central Florida Zoo made the coqui a big deal at her Zoo. Her 2-day “Fiesta del Coqui” brought in 8 times the number of visitors seen on a typical weekend. 

In addition, Sydney Ross Singer and Soma Grismaijer, both medical (!) anthropologists, and authors of “Panic in Paradise: Invasive Species Hysteria and the Hawaiian Coqui War” as well as co-Directors of CHIRP (Coqui Hawaiin Integration and Reeducation Project) are out to protect and promote the coqui too. On his website (www.hawaiiancoqui.org ) Singer writes: “There is, in fact, NO science showing coquis as threats to native birds or insects”. Coquis eat insects including mosquitos, fire ants, roaches, stinging caterpillars and other harmful pests which is GOOD. He says they are no more invasive than the “beloved gecko” and even a “scientific study” has shown that they do not harm or endanger Hawaii’s ecosystem. Instead, Singer believes the Hawaiian Coqui Fraud is an emotional and economic issue with greedy companies out to make  Big Bucks using Federal Funds to fight a useless losing battle (not to mention poisoning a lot of other animals, plants, the groundwater, the soil and-yes- humans in the process). Nonetheless, the County of Hawaii, USDA, State of Hawaii, Department of Agriculture and the Hawaii Island Economic Development Board have purchased trailer tank sprayers (ranging from 100-400 gallon capacity) for use by anyone for free and provides grants of up to $5,000 to buy citric acid, hydrated lime, gloves, masks, refreshments and other supplies “necessary to fight the coqui”.  

 The sad truth is that the coqui’s mating sing-song call keeps the Hawaiins awake at night. Describing it as “a cross between a lawnmower and a table saw”, they even go so far as to claim its SHREIK is bad for Human Health (though this is unfounded and millions in the Caribbean would beg to differ)! Singer writes that the war against coquis is “wrong and cruel” and has created a 67 acre Place of Refuge (Pu’uhona) or Coqui Sanctuary and Nature Preserve on the Big Island where his fellow Hawaiins are encouraged to see the benefits of the coqui in ECOTourism. He believes one of the best ways to get used the sound is to hear it as music, and not noise….like some exotic nighttime birdcall… and urges visitors to join him in “Coqui Encounters” and “Sunset Serenade” tours. Soy de aqui and I love the coqui so I truly believe this a worthy cause.  Check out his Da Coqui Song! It’s great.So what can YOU do for The Year of the Frog in Puerto Rico?

1. Sign the “Save the Frog” petition at www.amphibianark.org/online-petition.php
2. Download their Campaign InfoPack (available in English and Spanish) and share it
3. Organize a Frog project in School
4. Visit and support the Mayaguez Zoo to learn more
5. Have your Corporation donate to Amphibian Ark and other Conservation organizations.

If you don’t get involved to save the frog now, how well will you sleep at night here?