Wildlife Group Says We're Eating Too Many Frog Legs

Food & Wine ^ | June 28, 2022 | Jelisa Castrodale

[nickcarraway]

A new report suggests that human consumption of frog legs is pushing some species to extinction.

Restaurants with frog legs on their menus and supermarkets that stock them could be contributing to the decline of certain species of frogs. In one case, they could be pushing a frog found in Turkey toward extinction, according to a report — with the grim title "Deadly Dish" — that was recently co-published by the German nonprofit Pro Wildlife and French environmental protection organization Robin des Bois.

Originally reported by The Guardian, the two groups found state that more than 40,700 tons of frog legs were imported into the European Union between 2011 and 2020, which amounts to somewhere between 814 million to two billion frogs. The countries that import the most frog legs are Belgium, with 70 percent of the total imports, followed by France, and the Netherlands.

According to the researchers, losing such a large number of frogs every year can have a significant impact on the natural environment. "Frogs play a central role in the ecosystem as insect killers — and where frogs disappear, the use of toxic pesticides is increasing," Robin des Bois president Charlotte Nithart said. "Hence, the frogs' legs trade has direct consequences not only for the frogs themselves, but also for nature conservation."

The EU's biggest frog supplier is Indonesia, with almost three-quarters of the market, followed by Vietnam and Turkey. (In the United States, the majority of frogs imported "for human consumption" are from Mexico, Ecuador, and China; in addition, a significant number of the frogs from Ecuador and China are farmed, not caught in the wild.)

A report recently published in the journal Oryx has suggested that harvesting Anatolian water frogs in Turkey is responsible for reducing that species' population by around 20 percent every year. The report's authors project that, if the frogs are harvested at the same annual rate, the frog could be extinct by 2032.

So what are the solutions? When it comes to the Anatolian water frogs, the study authors acknowledge that the size of the market — and its financial impact — make it unrealistic to assume that the frogs will no longer be harvested. Instead, they have recommended banning the collection of live frogs during their mating seasons; training harvesters to improve the sustainability of frog-harvesting; limiting the number of frogs that a single exporter can harvest during a certain period of time; and enforcing size limits so smaller frogs are not harvested.

Those recommendations are echoed in the "Deadly Dish" report. Its authors also recommend that countries that export frogs should conduct ecological surveys to determine the existing sizes of their frog populations, and use those numbers to establish "catch and export quotas." It also recommends that the countries who import frog legs should run awareness campaigns to decrease the demand for frog legs, period.

[Dusty Road]

They are farmed, the story is BS.

[Fido969]

There’s a fellow around here that cooks up road kill. Once a year he has a big benefit dinner. Deer, bear, possum, groundhog, snake, skunk, whatever.

[RummyChick]

what does skunk taste like?

[lizma2]

“You should try grasshopper legs....”

My son loved freezed dried sour cream and chive cricket and Santa left them in his stocking for years!

They were O.K. The only bug I ever ate intentionally.

[TLI]

Nothing wrong with squirrel.

Had it a LOT as a kid.

Me and my brother and dad would do Sunday afternoon squirrel hunts while mom got the fixins ready.

Getting back to the house dad had an old picnic table set up for cleaning with a spike in the table and a hook for the hose.

From the tree to the bowl of egg to the flower/salt/pepper breading bowl to the pot of sizzling Crisco was usually about two hours.

Fried squirrel, fried squash and eggplant, rice, bread and gravy.

Man that was good.

.

[Phoenix8]

A frog is a nice animal to have around. They eat insects, croaks are nice to listen to, serve as a important part of the food chain. Then they are just interesting.

We don’t have to be like China and eat eat every single living thing that is not poisonous and sometimes those as well. At least we should regulate their use more carefully.

IMO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMSo292PnKs

[MortMan]

You omitted amphibians... Like frogs.

[unread]

There’s a fellow around here that cooks up road kill. Once a year he has a big benefit dinner. Deer, bear, possum, groundhog, snake, skunk, whatever."

I never did eat any skunk. I knew a guy that had one for a pet.!

[Blood of Tyrants]

Shoot, shovel, shut up.

[Honorary Serb]

They used to serve frogs’ legs at a scientific conference I attended a long time ago. I haven’t eaten a single frog’s leg since!!

[SamAdams76]

When I was a boy, we would kill frogs with a slingshot at Boy Scout camp.

This is how it's done.

After we got a few, we'd cut off the legs, put them on sticks and cook them over a campfire.

I don't think the Boy Scouts do things like that anymore.

[goodnesswins]

We have lots of squirels...may have to get your recipe in future...

[GreyFriar]

And absolutely ribbiting article. Kermit is safe from me.

[GaltAdonis]

"...I've done my part by never eating a frog leg..."

.

I ate a plate of frogs legs when my parents took me to a nice
restaurant called The Carriage House (now long-defunct) when
I was six years old.

Before I finished the plate, I had to go to the bathroom to
vomit the fried stuff back up.

But to be fair, it may have been that the greasy fried food did
not sit well in my six year old tummy - maybe.

So - the first and last time I ate frogs legs was 52 years ago.

And I never have eaten escargot. Nor snake nor alligator.
I have tried emu - once. It's like red chicken meat - and very bland.
An emu is a relative of the ostrich, I believe.

Emu:

[KarlInOhio]

Only had reptile once when an uncle caught a big snapping turtle while fishing. Don’t know whether it was legal or it just “followed him home”.

[Republican Wildcat]

Well I’m definitely not part of this problem...

[HartleyMBaldwin]

I’ve eaten rattlesnake more than a few times, fried or stewed. Rattlesnake does not taste like chicken; it tastes like snake.

Also eaten alligator once or twice, and turtle once. They were fried, and didn’t have any particular flavor that I recall.

[metmom]

We?

I don’t know anyone who eats them.

Speak for yourself.

[Mark17]

I’ve tried cutting back. Really I have. Even flirted with the idea of going to frog leg eaters anonymous. Now they’re taking Juul off the market which was my only hope of cutting back.

I hear ya bro. I am trying to help out, since my next frog leg, will be my first. 😂😀

[metmom]

Ostrich is actually very good, like a high quality piece of beef.

The color was a little purpler that beef, but otherwise, you would never know.

Probably close to 30 years ago, a local supermarket carried it, which is why we decided to try it. Glad I did just for bragging rights.