As the rain approaches, villages across the state will hear frogs croaking to attract a mate. Instead of attracting their own kind, however, these frogs will draw the attention of human predators. There have been many instances where frogs from several parts of Bicholim and Sattari have become easy targets for poachers.
To save the species, the forest department and non-government organizations (NGO) from Bicholim are gearing up to keep a check on the situation.
“Earlier there were enough of frogs in South Goa, but because of heavy killing their number has gone down. The demand for frogs is increasing and so they are under danger. There was a time when eating frogs was seasonal and people used to hunt them only during the monsoon. Now, because of the demand from some of the hotels this has become very common and is done almost during the entire year. The hunting increases during rainy season,” said Amrut Singh, Chief of Animal Rescue Squad.
He added, “There is an organised racket in which even locals are involved as they know the places where frogs can be found. They usually go at night with the pretext of catching fish and crabs, but they also hunt the frogs. The department does not have enough resources to check such activities all over the taluka, and so the NGOs and the people should be alert and raise an alarm against such activities.”
Speaking about the poacher’s modus operandi, Singh explained that people used to hunt frogs late in the evening, but now they also choose to hunt early in the morning. He said, “This year we are keeping watch on all the locations and also have a list of car numbers that were earlier spotted and which belong to people carrying out such activities.”
When contacted, the Sattari Range Forest Officer, Paresh Porob said informed that they had identified several places in Bicholim and Sattari where frog hunting was likely to take place.
“We have our informers, and with the help of NGOs have geared up to stop hunting of frogs in these two talukas. Frogs play a central role in many ecosystems. They control the insect population and they’re a food source for many larger animals,” he explained an added, “Under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, any individual or restaurant detected to be catching, killing, selling, serving or even eating frog meat will attract stringent punishment with a fine of Rs 25,000 and/or imprisonment up to three years.”
The Indian Bullfrog and Jerdon Bullfrog, both regularly slaughtered for meat in Goa, are already on the Schedule-I List of threatened species recognized by the government of India as well as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
