SAVE OUR FROGS. Frogs are an important species within our ecosystem. Take a brief look at the last detailed analysis of frogs and reptiles and youll see that frogs and reptiles are now making up quite a large list of amphibious animals now bordering extinction iucnredlist.org/search Ghana a small African country known for its notorious bush and pet meat trade holds some seventy eight species of frogs - one of the largest countries on the planet that is host to such a diverse species - a species that is though now under immense threat. A threat known as frog meat trade. A trade that is now threatening to wipe the entire seventy eight species of frogs out within Ghana alone.. Now to some of you, frogs may not seem that important - others see them as a rather ugly looking creature that is really not of any important whatsoever to our ecosystem. Thats where your very wrong though!. Frogs have been disappearing worldwide at unprecedented rates, and currently one-third of the worlds 6,485 amphibian species are threatened with extinction. This should come as no surprise since frog populations are being assaulted from many directions at once--global warming, pollution, habitat destruction, infectious diseases, over-harvesting and invasive species being the greatest menaces. Despite this onslaught, there’s a lot you can do to reverse this disturbing trend. First lets look at why frogs are so important to the environment—and to our very survival. YES THATS CORRECT - HUMAN SURVIVAL! Why We Need Frogs Stopping the current wave of frog extinctions is important for several reasons: Frogs eat mosquitoes, ticks and flies that carry vector-borne diseases such as malaria, West Nile virus, dengue fever, lyme disease and leishmaniasis. Tadpoles eat algae and therefore act as a natural filtration system that keeps our drinking water clean. Frogs serve as food to a diverse array of predators including birds, reptiles, fish, dragonflies and monkeys, and the loss of frogs from the ecosystem would therefore negatively affect these species as well. Due to their permeable skin that absorbs chemicals and pollutants, frogs are accurate bioindicators, providing us with an early-response system that can tell us when something is wrong in the environment. Frogs are important in human medicine: 10% of the Nobel Prizes in Physiology and Medicine have come from research that depended on frogs. When a frog species disappears, so does any chance of that species improving human well-being. So in all while some of you may dislike these rather important slimy creatures that look pretty unintelligent - they are actually helping us and other animals to survive. Without them we face some pretty major problems. So do the animals that feed off them. Frogs need all the help they can get. With the IUCN Red List estimating that 41 percent of amphibians are endangered, frogs are currently the worlds most imperiled animal family. Scientists estimate that around 200 amphibian species have been lost to extinction in recent decades to habitat loss, pollution, and a devastating fungal disease. Yet as the frog emergency worsens, there have been positive movements in conservation. The most recent comes from the small West African country of Ghana. Partnering with the enthusiastic US-based organization, SAVE THE FROGS!, two Ghanaian herpetologists, Gilbert Baase Adum and Caleb Ofori, have started a sister branch in their country: SAVE THE FROGS! Ghana. This is West Africas first conservation group devoted exclusively to amphibians. These wonderful conservationists can be seen here in the picture and its yet again more proof that not every African white or black is an animal killer or abuser, Far from it these ladies and gentlemen are preserving the species of frogs which is more than can be said for hunters at the Maroi Conservancy for Ladies hosted by Madame Botha and fiends. Born to a hunting tribe in northern Ghana, my first and immediate interest in frogs was for their meat. I feel ashamed to always confess it. It was not until my secondary school days when I repented of eating frog meat and then at university I developed another interest, this time to save them, Executive Director of SAVE THE FROGS! Ghana, Gilbert Baase Adum stated. One can read more here below. Read more: news.mongabay/2011/1102-hance_interview_adum.html#ixzz3N1tXRk5A Threats associated with our cute amphibious friends are listed below for your immediate attention. The Top Threats to Frogs’ Survival Thanks to mankind, frogs are encountering many new perils—some shared with other species, many unique to frogs. The top threats to frog survival are: Global warming & climate - Frogs need moist conditions to survive. But rising temperatures mean rising cloud levels, and for frogs in tropical cloud forests, this means that time is running out, as their habitats literally dry up. Closer to home, in Yellowstone National Park, which is the world’s oldest protected area, persistent droughts in recent decades have affected the water table and caused 25% of the park’s ponds to become permanently dry. The frogs that once inhabited them are now gone. No water - means no frogs - no frogs means more insect invasion, pests, diseases, virus and animal extinctions that depend on frogs as part of their dietary needs. Pesticides & pollutants - Pesticides and pollutants can be carried by the wind to locations hundreds of miles from their origin, and then are eventually brought by gravity to the waterways in which frogs live and breed. Frogs’ permeable skin absorbs these chemicals, which can cause limb deformities (missing or extra limbs), hermaphroditism, delayed metamorphosis and deformed mouthparts. International Animal Rescue Foundations MARINE CONSERVATION UNIT has already noted some eighteen areas within Mexico, America and Canada as well as South Africa frogs with deformities which is becoming more common... Habitat destruction - Urban expansion is transforming once-vibrant wetlands and forests into shopping malls and housing developments. New roads serve as deathtraps to slow-moving amphibians trying to move through an inhospitable landscape. In developing countries, species-rich rainforests are quickly being converted into oil palm plantations, sugarcane fields and ranchland. Infectious diseases - Tens of millions of frogs are shipped around the world each year for use in the frog pet, food, bait and laboratory trades. Very few of these frogs undergo disease testing, and sick frogs (or the water in which they were held) inevitably escape into their new environment, where native frogs have no evolved defenses against the new pathogens. One such disease, chytridiomycosis, has driven up to 100 frog species to complete extinction. Human activity is facilitating the spread of chytridiomycosis and threatening frog species worldwide. Read more here on chytridiomycosis >> amphibiaweb.org/chytrid/chytridiomycosis.html Over-harvesting for the pet and food trades - Tens of millions of frogs are removed from the wild each year, destined for dinner plates and for American, European and Japanese pet shops. This harvest is unsustainable, and threatens some of the world’s most appreciated frogs: brightly colored species such as poison dart frogs and red-eyed treefrogs, and large frogs, such as the Goliath frog, which could be hunted to extinction for the meat on their legs. Invasive species - Trout have been introduced to naturally fishless mountain lakes and streams worldwide, from the Sierra Nevada range to Patagonia and the Southern Alps. Trout are voracious predators of tadpoles, and have completely extirpated many montane frog populations, as is the case with the Sierra Nevada Yellow-Legged frog, formerly one of the most abundant amphibians in California. Meanwhile in Ghana an organisation SAVE THE FROGS! is working wonders to preserve the Ghanaian species. We ask all our viewers to please donate to the Save the Frogs non-profit organisation and help #SAVETHEFROGS dont forget to also view upcoming events on their Facebook page, Twitter and Google sites too. A life without frogs will be a life with some pretty major ecosystem changes. Humans will see a rise in mosquitoes, flies and other virus harboring insects - not forgetting a probable increase in malaria cases. While we are not supportive of animal research medicines that are produced from amphibious research will also be knocked on the head - so too will other species of animals come under threat from lack of food sources. Its now or never. Pictures credited to Save the Frogs. Please dont forget to support this wonderful American and African non-profit organisation and most importantly - please make a small monetary contribution to help #SAVEOURSPECIES. Thank you for reading. Simona Environmental Conservationist [email protected] In light of the amazing work these ladies and gentleman are undertaking and within a country that is still developing International Animal Rescue Foundation Africa will be pledging a monetary donation of $150 to SAVE THE FROGS/GHANA to help with their conservation projects. Please share to create awareness of this organisation and help them in whatever way you can. You can even DONATE YOUR OLD CAR to them :) View the video here https://youtube/watch?v=I8qgRMCg5cE
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 18:53:37 +0000
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