Glass frogs are tiny, fragile frogs – most of them are under an inch long and all of them neotropical found in 19 countries through Central and South America. The range for individual species can be very small. As of now, 158 species have been identified, the last two just this year.
What is so disconcerting to Born Free USA and numerous other conservation groups is that more than 50% of glass frog species assessed by the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) were put on the Red List because they are threatened with extinction, with 71% of those evaluated in decline. For others, we just don’t know. These animals are very difficult to study and count in the wild. They are tiny, cryptically colored, nocturnal, arboreal, with some requiring DNA or detailed anatomical examination to even identify the species. Many kinds have partly or mostly transparent skin, making internal organs visible, hence their name. Where skin is opaque it is usually green or greenish yellow, like leaves.
The Exotic Pet Trade Threatens Glass Frogs
Like frogs everywhere, glass frogs are vulnerable to habitat loss and fragmentation, invasive species, and pollution, as well as a chytrid fungal infection, deemed responsible for extinctions of some of the estimated 200 frog species exterminated in the last half century, worldwide.
But, there is another major but somewhat correctable threat thanks, in part, to a very different frog, this one fictional, made of cloth, and called Kermit. When, in 1955, the late puppeteer Jim Henson first introduced the world to Kermit the Frog, with two halves of ping pong balls for eyes, it did not look much like a frog, and Kermit still has only vague resemblance to most frog species. But Kermit’s facial features tend to resemble those of various tropical tree frogs, specifically including glass frogs, including, in some species, those weird, bulging eyes with horizontal-looking pupils.
But even without their resemblance to Kermit, glass frogs feed the unquenchable appetite of the exotic pet industry in service to the demands of collectors for whom both the rarity of the species, and the oddness of its characteristics are irresistible attractions. Efforts have been made to protect the frogs, with Panama and Ecuador permitting some commercial trade, but many illegally obtained frogs have entered the market, often quite openly.
Five seconds of internet surfing led me to where I could buy glass frogs as pets. The ad reminded me that, “Glass frogs have long been a `holy grail’ frog species for many hobbyists” because the frogs “make amazing captives in naturalistic vivaria” even though their life cycles make them “difficult to produce in any significant quantity,” suggesting that wild populations are the main source for them.**
Addressing the Trade in Glass Frogs at CITES CoP19
Most glass frogs snatched from tropical forests are sold in Europe, the U.S., and Canada, but it is hard to know to what degree because there is little data on what species are in trade and via what trade routes. Thus, a group of range state countries, assisted by some African countries that are face their own problems with Eurasian and North American demand for some of their rare plants and animals, plus the USA, are proposing that the entire family of glass frogs, Centrolenidae, be placed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
If successful, the Appendix II listing will mean exported frogs crossing national boundaries will have to be certified as legal by the originating country and that the trade does not contribute to endangering the species. It will include species yet undiscovered.
The fate of the proposal will be determined this month at the 19th Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP 19). A similar effort in Geneva at CoP 18, three years ago, failed when the European Union voted against protecting these vulnerable animals, even though more than 30,000 live herptiles were confiscated from the EU between 2001 and 2010, with glass frogs regularly sold both online and at herptiles fairs in Europe. They propose to oppose it again!
And that is sad because these strange, wonderful, delicate, and beautiful little animals need and deserve our protection. Their plight confirms that contrary to the often-heard assertions in defense of animal exploitation, the monetary value of a species does not assure its protection, but all too often contributes to its demise. The current proposal is far stronger and better supported than its predecessor, and all of us are working to help it to succeed.
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Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Barry
