The Goliath frog, the largest living frog on Earth, is susceptible to extinction after a 50% population decline over the past three generations, largely as a consequence of human activity.
The Goliath frog definitely lives as much as its name. Reaching as much as 13 inches in length (32 cm) from snout to vent and weighing as much as 7.2 kilos (3.25 kg), it’s by far the largest frog in the world. However, it has a contrastingly small habitat range in African Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, making it particularly vulnerable to human-caused habitat destruction. They are shy creatures that attempt to avoid humans as much as possible, but increasingly sophisticated traps and habitat destruction have caused an enormous decline in Goliath frog numbers, and experts warn that if the situation doesn’t change soon, this impressive creature will turn into extinct.
Photo: Mark-Oliver Rödel from the Berlin Museum of Natural History, Germany
“At least 20,000 Goliath frogs are hunted during the peak hunting season, which is November to April,” – Sancho, executive director of a conservation NGO Voice of Naturehe said An honest planet, adding that the demand for the amphibian is crazy since it is taken into account a delicacy in some communities in southwestern Cameroon. One Goliath frog could be sold for as much as $15, which is a reasonably penny in countries like Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.
For years, the Cameroonian government ignored the decimation of Goliath frogs, but eventually lobbying by conservation NGOs led to the creation Muanenguba herpeto-ornithological sanctuary, a shelter for several endangered species, including this spectacular frog. Poachers seeking to line their pockets often enterprise into the sanctuary, but conservationists hope the government will soon start sending “environmentalists” to guard the animals.
Despite its human-made plight, mainly as a consequence of hunting and deforestation, the Goliath frog stays one in every of the most elusive animal species on Earth. A team of scientists, who hoped to look at the feeding habits of Goliath tadpoles in case the species needed to be bred in captivity to make sure its survival, reported that the frogs jumped into the Mpoula River in western Cameroon at the slightest sound of an approaching human.
Interestingly, by trying to look at Goliath frogs in their habitat, scientists were in a position to discover why they evolved to grow as large as most other frog species. Although they didn’t see many adults, the researchers did come across many spawning pools that looked like no other frog breeding grounds. Of the three kinds of structures observed, one seemed to be built by frogs, making the most of their size and huge muscles.
IN 2019 studyresearchers reported that Goliath frogs dug holes in the gravel banks of rivers and surrounded them with larger stones and rocks, essentially creating small ponds that provided a barrier against predators reminiscent of fish and shrimp but additionally prevented fluctuations in water levels. Interestingly, a few of these ponds were constructed of enormous, heavy rocks, some weighing as much as 4.4 kilos, greater than twice the weight of the Goliath frog.
“The fact that we have only just discovered these behaviors shows how little we know about even some of the most spectacular creatures on our planet,” said study co-writer Mark-Oliver Rödel Popular science.
Scientists estimate that Goliath frogs have been around for 250 million years, but we still know little about them. And unfortunately, if nothing is finished to guard their habitats and limit hunting, they may turn into extinct in just a number of years.
