Appetite for frogs’ legs in France and Belgium ‘driving species to extinction’-Conservationists say exploitation of amphibians leading to depletion of native species abroad

Guardian ^ | 6-27-22

[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Export quotas for Indonesia’s Javan frog have also been withdrawn in a move that conservationists suspect may be as a result of population depletion.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.

[Clay Moore]

“A voracious appetite for frogs’ legs among the French”

Wouldn’t that be cannibalism?