Europe imports up to 200 million mostly wild frogs every year. The giant African bullfrog (pictured) may already be extinct in Swaziland. Photograph: Nature Picture Library/Alamy
Posted on 06/27/2022 11:09:52 AM PDT by SJackson
Europe imports up to 200 million mostly wild frogs every year. The giant African bullfrog (pictured) may already be extinct in Swaziland. Photograph: Nature Picture Library/Alamy
A voracious appetite for frogs’ legs among the French and Belgians is driving species in Indonesia, Turkey and Albania to the brink of extinction, according to a report.
Europe imports as many as 200 million mostly wild frogs every year, contributing to a serious depletion of native species abroad.
Scientists estimate that the Anatolian water frog could be extinct in Turkey by 2032, because of over-exploitation while other species such as the Albanian water frog are now threatened.
Export quotas for Indonesia’s Javan frog have also been withdrawn in a move that conservationists suspect may be as a result of population depletion.
Dr Sandra Altherr, the cofounder of the conservation charity Pro Wildlife, which co-authored the report said: “In Indonesia, as now also in Turkey and Albania, large frog species are dwindling in the wild, one after the other, causing a fatal domino effect for species conservation.”
“If the plundering for the European market continues, it’s highly likely that we will see more serious declines of wild frog populations and, potentially, extinctions in the next decade.”
Charlotte Nithart, the president of the French NGO Robin desBois, which co-wrote the paper, said: “Frogs play a central role in the ecosystem as insect killers and where frogs disappear, the use of toxic pesticides is increasing. Hence, the frogs’ legs trade has direct consequences not only for the frogs themselves, but for biodiversity and ecosystem health as a whole.”
Amphibians are the most threatened group among vertebrates, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature , and the EU’s habitats directive prevents native wild frogs from being caught in member countries.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Tastes like chicken.
I suppose it’s a waste of time to suggest that Swaziland start farming frogs.
No shortage round here.
Obama: If you don’t eat dog, you ain’t Muslim.
When I was kid, Mrs. Paul’s used to sell them. YUM!
I wish they would eat more snails—we have lots to sell to them—too many.
Hard to believe when you see how many eggs just one can lay.
My exact thoughts...why is this so hard to grasp????
I just came here for the cartoon.
"Waiter - there are snails on her plate. Now get them out of here before she sees them! You would think that in a fancy restaurant at these prices you could keep the snails off the food! There are so many snails there you can't even see the food! Now take those away and bring us those melted cheese sandwich appetizers you talked me out of!"
They can feed the frogs the bugs they want us to eat.
Isn’t there an imported frog in Australia that’s killing off the native species?
Get them and it’s a win win.
They can come to my house and area and Bon Appetite:-)
And if you don’t eat frogs you’re not French.
I had to come to America to eat my first frog legs in Brownsville, TX and follow it up with delicious cabrito and dove.
Eat the whole dang frog.
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