THE HINDU (Chennai, India) 22 October 07 The frogs go marching out - Habitat loss, pollution and global warming are driving frogs and other amphibians towards extinction (K. Jeshi)

They are considered the best friends of farmers. They eat those pesky bugs and insects which destroy the crops. Scientists call them Nature’s indicator, as they croak so wonderfully at night to tell you when it is going to rain.

Now, frogs and their relatives are in trouble. Habitat loss, pollution, global warming and environmental contamination are driving the cold-blooded and highly sensitive frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and caecilian and other amphibian populations towards possible extinction. They also face a new and deadly challenge, the fungal disease, chytridiomycosis, which has wiped out native amphibians on a mass scale in Panama.

To halt the looming extinction, zoo professionals from around the world are coming together to educate people on how to protect the frogs and the waterways that belong to our local neighbourhoods, our homelands and the world.

As part of the recent Indian Wildlife Week celebrations (October 1 to 7), Zoo Outreach Organisation (Z.O.O.) has joined hands with the Amphibian Network of South Asia (ANSA) to create awareness on the amphibian crisis.

The ANSA has declared 2008 as the Year of the Frog to launch a worldwide education campaign. An education packet with an information booklet, a paper mask for conducting dramas and a frog rakhi are being sent to zoos and educational institutions to draw the Government’s attention to the crisis in India.

“Amphibians have a restricted distribution in the valleys and hill tops in places such as the Western Ghats and the Andaman and Nicobar islands,” says Sanjay Molur, Chairman of the Amphibian Network of South Asia.

Macro-photographer K. Jayaram, who has extensively shot frogs and insects, says amphibians are highly sensitive to humidity and moisture conditions.

“Global warming lessens humidity. Once skin moisture dries, they die immediately. Frogs breed in damp places and when the area gets exposed, the tadpoles die,” he says.

Human interference, tourism, shrinkage of water bodies, changing weather patterns and other stresses affect them.

“Now, the major concern over the last 15 to 20 years is the gradual take over by a parasitic fungus, chytrid. It is something like a skin allergy which begins to show up when they are stressed. The fungus forms layers under a frog’s skin, and when it breathes, causes distress and shuts down its metabolism,” he says.

Local warming also contributes to their extinction.

“There are about a dozen species in the Nilgiris. Some are endemic, confined to one place, in one locality. When these forests are exploited, it is like looting the entire species. For instance, in Wyanad, the species lateralis (belonging to the genus Rhacophorus) marked by permanent lateral lines, is found in a small area. With a lot of poaching and coffee estates coming up, its habitat is disturbed,” says Jayaram.

Frogs are like a barometer. “They indicate weather changes and plan their breeding accordingly. They have this inborn instinct, something like a computer input, to know the climatic conditions and when it is going to rain,” he says.

Ecologist B. Abraham Lingan says field education is one way of creating awareness in schools.

“Subjects such as environmental science should not be confined to classrooms. Students should be taken to the field to help them understand the way a frog or a snake looks. Amphibians and reptiles live in close co-ordination with human beings,” he says.

He plans to spread awareness in 20 schools in Cuddalore and Puducherry through quiz programmes, drawing and painting competitions and enact plays on amphibians.

“The students, in turn, will educate parents,” he says.

“As with many species, habitat destruction is the problem,” says Sally Parker, founder of ZOO and Convenor of Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, South Asia.

“The Government needs to protect wild lands with amphibian concentration, allocate more funds for field studies, and implement protective measures in the habitat. Aggressive studies to see if the deadly fungus is also lurking in any localities here are also needed. The public should be made aware that the loss of amphibians will impact their lives very negatively,” she warns.
The frogs go marching out

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