PANJIM, JUNE 16
With the rains drenching Western Ghats, it’s time for the Malabar Gliding frog to usher in its natural habitat, enjoying the monsoon droplet that fall on the leaves.
This frog, endemic to Western Ghats, comes out only during monsoons and for the rest of time it hibernates into the tree canopy, away from the rest of the world.
“With the onset of monsoons, Malabar Gliding Frog is back in its habitat and will remain cited till the showers continue before hiding in the thick tree canopy,” environmentalist Nirmal Kulkarni told Herald.
“Though State witnessed the actual onset of monsoon in June, the Malabar frogs had their presence in their habitat at the end of May itself,” he added.
These species are found only in south west Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka till southern Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the entire world.
“This flagship species are found in all the protected forest areas of the State. However, the good sightings of this species occur in forests of Amboli, Mollem and Mhadei regions,” Kulkarni said.
It has been said that the appearance of these creatures is near to mystery while their behaviour is as unique as their lifestyle.
Kulkarni explains, “There are reports that these species hibernates in the high tree canopy after the monsoons end. They are seen at eye level only during the monsoons when they are induced to mate in the tree canopy.”
According to the environmentalist, these are the only frogs which build their nests on the tree. The males build foam nests with the help of females who spawn in the nest and build the foam nest by holding leaves together on the tree.
“The leaves stay glued together due to the foam nest and are built over temporary or permanent water bodies in which the tadpoles later fall after four to five days and emerging tadpoles are bottom feeders for sometime,” Kulkarni said.
However, the environmentalists, who are excited about citing of these rare species, feel that this species is losing its local habitats due to monoculture plantations and mass alterations due to burning and shifting cultivation, large scale forest clearing and development projects.
According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened species, at least 1,856 amphibian species are threatened with extinction, representing 32 percent of all known species worldwide.
Though the IUCN Red List has pointed Malabar Gliding Frog as near threatened globally, Kulkarni says that in Goa this species are found in good numbers.
This species is not facing threat of extinction, but with the fast destruction of their habitat, there are chances that this species might be under threatened list in near future,” Kulkarni lamented.
He said that being an endemic species, their protection and conservation is must.
“There is need to protect these areas (western ghats) as well as there is need to create awareness amongst the masses of the State,” he said.
