Only recently, Forest Department officials seized 209 Indian bullfrogs at Pollem check-post in Canacona being transported across the border by three persons.
They found three sacks full of frogs .Of these, 158 were alive and the remaining had died.
The indiscriminate killing of frogs for their meat, which is popularly nicknamed ‘jumping chicken’ to avoid legal hassles, has been the main cause of the decline in frog population.
Catching, killing and selling frogs or serving frog meat in restaurants contravene the provisions of the Act and attract stringent punishment. The monsoon is the mating and breeding season for several frog species. It is during this time that they become victims of their greatest predator, namely human beings.
Researchers warn that toxic residues from agrochemicals biomagnified in the food chain get accumulated in fat deposits in frogs and their continuous consumption could trigger paralytic strokes, cancer or kidney failure.
Also killing of frogs causes an imbalance in the food chain, affecting the ecological balance of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.Because frogs mainly feed on insects, insects and vectors responsible for spreading diseases such as malaria, filariasis and encephalitis are brought under control.
DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND STOP CATCHING THESE CREATURES !
