Hunting, capturing and killing of any frog species is banned in the state of Goa under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. Similarly, serving frog meat in restaurants or private establishments is illegal and can result in a fine and/or imprisonment.
The Forest Department warnings and the multiple NGO’s cries against poaching the endangered Indian Bullfrog seem to be falling on deaf ears.
With the monsoon hardly a week old, the croaks of the frogs already have seemed to have gotten the peoples tummy’s rumbling. The Forest Department have already detained 5 frog poachers in different incidents in the state. The forest department have already rescued over a hundred frogs and left them back into the wild hoping that they will be safe.
SAVE THE FROG
The Forest Department are doing everything they can to try and stop people from poaching frogs. They put up posters and hoardings all over the state to try and educate the people and create awareness about the importance of frogs to the ecosystem. The Save the Frog campaign has been going on for quite a while. But the people of the state seem to turn a blind eye to the declining number of frogs in the state and have no idea of the importance of them in our environment. The greedy-money minded poachers only care about feeding themselves and making a quick buck. The incidents of poaching so far have highlighted how ignorant we people are about other species survival in our ecosystem.
It is just the beginning of the monsoon season and already over a hundred frogs rescued from poachers. It is high time that the people as well as the Forest officials become vigilante to tackle the growing poaching of frogs in the state. The department has urged people to go out and complain if they find any suspicious activities in the fields or if they come across or even hear of anyone eating, killing or serving frog meat in their homes, restaurants or anywhere else. Strict action will be taken against those found taking part in such activities.
The Importance of the Indian Bullfrog:
- They control the insect population by feasting on small parasite insects that helps in protecting the farmer’s crops from being eaten.
- Indian Bullfrog tadpoles feed on mosquito larvae, controlling their numbers and thereby preventing diseases and helping to save human lives.
- Frogs are also considered as prey for many animals like snakes and carnivorous birds. With numbers of frogs drastically reducing, snakes, which are their main predators, may soon start penetrating into human settlements in search of food.
- The Indian Bull Frog was an integral component of any local ecosystem be it a pond, well or field until the upsurge in poaching about 5 years ago.
The next time you see a torch in your field at night, do not be afraid to pick up the phone and dial the police. Your call might save a thousand frogs and the ecosystem!
