SAVE THE FROGS! hopes to extend its amphibian conservation movement to Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a small country with rich biodiversity in South East Asia. The amphibian populations are declining rapidly and it is assumed that many unknown species may go extinct before they are identified. The major threats to amphibians are the use of pesticides, climate change, habitat destruction, frog dissections, deforestation, and the illegal export of frog legs. Dr. Kerry Kriger, Founder of SAVE THE FROGS!, has offered to help Nurul Islam and Dr. Shahneaz Ali Khan create a SAVE THE FROGS! Bangladesh.

The five members of SAVE THE FROGS! Bangladesh have already had their first meeting in Chittagong, Bangladesh. On December 14, 2011 they visited a school in a remote village near Sitakundu Eco Park. The students aged from 12-17 and were taught about amphibian conservation and the importance of frogs. They distributed some outreach material among the students illustrating the role of frogs to the ecosystem and their threats.

SAVE THE FROGS! Bangladesh in action conducting an amphibian conservation education program in Bangladesh.

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The 2011 SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest received entries from 2,231 contestants in 31 countries! Entries came from Australia, Bangladesh, Belize, Canada, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the USA. The 2012 SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest will begin January 15th!

Congratulations to all the winners and honorable mentions and thanks to Critter Skimmer for donating the $$$ CASH PRIZES $$$! Feel free to help us spread the word by posting any of these images on your website! Be sure to check out our Mushroom Frog Art page, featuring tons of amazing 2012 Frog Art entries not displayed on this page. If your company would like to sponsor the 2012 SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest, please contact us.

Winners

Frog Hazards by Kara Timmons

San Antonio, TX, Age 19, GRAND PRIZE WINNER (and 18+ Category Winner). Kara’s frog art features invasive species, global warming, deforestation, pollution, limb deformities, and over-harvesting for the dissection, frog legs and pet frog trades. We like her art so much we put it on this postcard; please order a set today!

Marsh Frog at Sunset by Selena Vanapruks

Age 13, Winner of the 10-13 Age Category

Go Green and Save The Frogs by Lei Yang – 8

Walnut, CA, Age 8, Winner of the Under 10 Category

Don’t Splat Our Habitat by Lauren Lucente

Las Vegas, NV, Age 14, Winner of the 13-17 Age Category

View Hundreds Of More Entries Here!

Governor Bev Perdue of North Carolina yesterday officially recognized the 4th Annual Save The Frogs Day (April 28, 2012) in the state of NC, and “commends its observance to all citizens.” Thanks and congratulations to 13 year old Rachel Hopkins of Raleigh, NC for making this happen!

Here is the North Carolina Government page announcing the governor’s pro-frog move.

Click the image below to download the PDF of Governor Perdue’s proclamation!

The Sharp Park Wetlands are home to the endangered California Red-Legged Frog and San Francisco garter snake, as well as numerous bird species. Unfortunately, in 1931 the City of San Francisco built a golf course on top of the wetlands. The golf course has been killing endangered frogs and costing the City’s taxpayers money ever since.

Please send this letter and urge the City of San Francisco to vote YES on legislation that would shut down the city’s frog-killing Sharp Park Golf Course and turn the Sharp Park Wetlands over to the National Park Service.

NOW JOIN US AT SAN FRANCISCO’S CITY HALL DECEMBER 5th!
The Sharp Park vote takes place at San Francisco’s City Hall (Room 250) on December 5th, 2011 immediately following a public hearing on the matter. Please arrive by 10am and be prepared to stay until 2pm. When you arrive, please fill out a comment card so that you can speak for 2-3 minutes in front of the Board (this is your right as an American!). Don’t be afraid to speak…all you need to do at a minimum is ask the Board to protect the frogs and vote yes.

This proposed legislation was prompted by the request of 1,359 SAVE THE FROGS! supporters who sent letters to the City of San Francisco asking them to save the wetlands, and 100 people who attended our Save The Frogs Day Rally at the steps of City Hall. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors will vote December 5th, 2011 on whether to shut down the Sharp Park Golf Gourse and give management of the wetlands to the National Park Service. Victory is on the horizon, but we need you to make your voice heard…this will be a close vote!

SF Board of Supervisor Member John Avalos:

Photos by Lee Haynes:

In an effort to increase communication and participation among teachers and students interested in helping SAVE THE FROGS!, we are offering two very special webinars on Thursday November 17th: one for teachers, and one for students — though we encourage anybody to attend either or both.

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Students SAVE THE FROGS! Webinar
Thursday, November 17, 2011
5 PM – 5:45 PM US Pacific Time

Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/556132129

This webinar is a strategy session intended for teachers interested in helping SAVE THE FROGS! — though anybody is welcome to attend. The webinar will be hosted by SAVE THE FROGS! Founder Dr. Kerry Kriger, who will give a brief summary of our current activities and ways teachers can get involved. Following this recap, we will open the webinar to discussion to get your thoughts on how to increase teacher and student participation in frog conservation. All attendees will be able to ask questions or provide comments (if time allows). After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar. We encourage all students to have a look at the Save The Frogs Day and Students For Frogs webpages prior to the webinar.

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Teachers SAVE THE FROGS! Webinar
Thursday, November 17, 2011
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM US Pacific Time

Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/327840072

This webinar is a strategy session intended for teachers interested in helping SAVE THE FROGS! — though anybody is welcome to attend. The webinar will be hosted by SAVE THE FROGS! Founder Dr. Kerry Kriger, who will give a brief summary of our current activities and ways teachers can get involved. Following this recap, we will open the webinar to discussion to get your thoughts on how to increase teacher and student participation in frog conservation. All attendees will be able to ask questions or provide comments (if time allows). After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar. We encourage all teachers to have a look at the Save The Frogs Day and Teachers For Frogs webpages prior to the webinar.

Please send this letter and urge the City of San Francisco to vote YES on legislation that would shut down the city’s frog-killing Sharp Park Golf Course and turn the Sharp Park Wetlands over to the National Park Service. And please join us at City Hall (date to be announced soon!) for the public hearing, at which you will be able to speak for 2 minutes prior to the vote. We need to be extremely visible to the politicians, so we will have free t-shirts for attendees who RSVP.

This proposed legislation was prompted by the request of 1,359 SAVE THE FROGS! supporters who sent letters to the City of San Francisco asking them to save the Sharp Park Wetlands, and 100 people who attended our Save The Frogs Day Rally at the steps of City Hall. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors will vote October 24th, 2011 on whether to shut down the Sharp Park Golf Gourse and give management of the Sharp Park Wetlands to the National Park Service. Victory is on the horizon, but we need you to make your voice heard…this will be a close vote! View our Sharp Park Press Release here.

Please join us in Seattle, WA April 28th, 2012 to celebrate the 4th Annual Save The Frogs Day by participating in a 5K fun run and walk to promote awareness for amphibian conservation. Enjoy your Saturday morning cruising along a traffic free path with a view of Lake Washington.
savethefrogs.com/5k

Please post this flyer! Just click the image below, then download, print and post the PDF at your school, in your office or around town. Thanks for helping spread the word!

Report from SAVE THE FROGS! Advisory Committee Member Michael Starkey:

“SAVE THE FROGS! had the most fortunate opportunity to hold a table at the 10th Annual Wildlife Conservation Network Expo in San Francisco, CA on October 1st, 2011. The conference aims to bring more awareness to conservation efforts around the world. Primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall was the keynote speaker. There were many talks about larger, more charismatic species (e.g. Ethiopian wolves, marine mammals, apes, etc), but Save The Frogs! was able bring awareness to the conference attendees about the many threats facing amphibian populations and how amphibians, just like wolves, whales, pandas, etc, need more conservation efforts around the world. It was an incredible experience to be among such great conservationists from around the world and we were able to meet so many other inspirational and interesting individuals.

During the conference, I had a young boy (perhaps 5 or 6) come up to my table with his mother and sister. He explained to me how much he loved his pet frog and wanted all the frogs to be saved. He then left, but soon returned to my table because he wanted to give me a photo of his pet frog. He wanted me to have it so that I would remember him, and his frog. I reassured him that I would and that I would hold his photo close to my heart. He even wanted to take a photo with me (and of course, a photo was taken). Later in the day, I had the amazing opportunity to meet Dr. Jane Goodall. I told her about this experience with the boy and asked her to sign the back of that photo. You see, as I get older and continue my work as an ecologist, activist, conservationist, whatever you want to call what I am… I have noticed that people have started to look up TO ME… Simply, I want to remain humble, and let them know how when I was young… I looked up to her. Teary-eyed, I thanked her for everything.”

Image of Dr. Jane Goodall and Michael Starkey courtesy of Sharpminds Photography www.sharpminds.net.

Frog dissections are unethical and unnecessary. Furthermore, they are contributing to the depletion of wild frog populations and the spread of harmful invasive species and infectious diseases. As excellent alternatives exist, SAVE THE FROGS! highly recommends that schools switch to virtual dissection software such as the Digital Frog 2.5. We invite all students and teachers to assist worldwide amphibian conservation efforts by participating in our Race To Stop Dissections Contest.

The Top 10 Reasons Schools Should Not Dissect Frogs
(1) Frogs are the most rapidly disappearing group of animals on the planet.

(2) Most frogs being dissected are taken out of the wild.

(3) Farm-raised frogs have high rates of infectious diseases.

(4) Excellent virtual dissection alternatives exist.

(5) Few students have any need to know what the inside of a frog looks like.

(6) If a student plans to be a doctor they can dissect cadavers in med school.

(7) Unnecessarily killing an animal is unethical and teaches students that animals are disposable.

(8) Students’ time would be better spent learning about the threats frogs face and ways students can help protect amphibian populations.

(9) Students should not be forced to be unwitting accomplices in the extinction of frog species.

(10) Abandoning your school’s dissection program sends a strong signal that you support worldwide amphibian conservation efforts.

Our goal is to have frog dissections out of every public school in the USA by 2014. That is not a lot of time, considering the huge number of schools that currently dissect. With your help though, we can achieve our goal! In 2011, we want 200 USA public schools to abandon their dissection programs: help us make it happen!

The Race To Stop Dissections Contest
Calling All Teachers! Calling All Students! The Race To Stop Dissections Contest has begun and the frogs need you to take part! We want you working to get your school to abandon its frog dissection program. Not only will you learn all about frogs and campaign organizing, you will will experience the satisfaction of being the ones who saved the hundreds to thousands of frogs destined to die because of your school’s participation in the frog dissection trade. Plus you could win $$$ CASH PRIZES $$$ — so go sign up for the Race To Stop Dissections Contest!

We are very pleased to announce that the winner of the 2010 SAVE THE FROGS! Essay Contest winner is Josèphe-Anne Rocke, 19, of Verdun, Quebec, Canada! Josèphe-Anne’s essay rose to the top of 45 essays submitted to us by writers from India, Cameroon, Canada, Ghana, Pakistan, Vietnam and the USA.

A World Without Frogs
by Josèphe-Anne Rocke
Show anyone a poison dart frog and even those least appreciative of nature will admit it’s pretty. Then, tell them the species is threatened with extinction and they’ll probably be surprised. I doubt there’s anyone over the age of 3 who doesn’t know what a frog is. They are almost as familiar to us as cats and dogs. Just look around, and you’ll find traces of the amphibian’s popularity. Now, think for a moment about how life would be without them. At first, you might think it wouldn’t affect you (unless you’re a herpetologist), but think again. Amphibian extinction would affect everyone.

You think there are too many flies at your picnic? There would be even more without frogs around. Like seafood? Well, many game fish depend on tadpole populations to survive. No frogs means no fish. And as frogs live both on land and in water, their demise would be doubly catastrophic. The entire ecosystem would collapse!

Contemplating the creatures’ predicament forces us to question ourselves. Frogs are tenacious survivors. If they – with their special skin and unusual ways – are struggling to stay alive in a changing environment, then what about the rest of us? How many frogs have to disappear before we take this seriously? There is a blow to the Earth each time a species is lost. After all is said and done, it comes down to this: a world without frogs would be a world less beautiful, a world less diverse. A world without frogs would be a world incomplete.

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Josèphe-Anne is also an excellent artist, and was a prize winner and honorable mention in the 2009 SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest:
Category Winner: Toads, Salamanders, Newts and Caecilians

Honorable Mention