VICTORY!

The California Fish & Game Commission voted unanimously today to grant endangered status to the Mountain Yellow-Legged Frogs (Rana sierrae and R. muscosa), which have disappeared from over 90% of their historic range. Thanks to the 1,573 SAVE THE FROGS! supporters who sent in letters on behalf of the frogs. While endangered species status does not guarantee success in saving the species, it is a clear step in the right direction.

At one time a common sight at lakes, ponds and streams throughout the Sierra Nevadas, California’s Mountain Yellow-Legged Frog are now completely gone from over 90% of the sites they once inhabited.

The UK charity Froglife has awarded SAVE THE FROGS! Founder Dr. Kerry Kriger the 2012 Newt Year Honour for The High Profile Person Representing Amphibians and Reptiles, saying: “Dr Kriger has initiated a global Save The Frogs Day, inspiring people all over the world to celebrate, learn more about and raise funds to protect frogs and their habitats into the future.” Previous honours have gone to Sir David Attenborough, Stephen Fry, Monty Python’s Terry Jones, and the creators of Bagpuss for the magical Gabriel the Toad.

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 City of Santa Cruz voted unanimously today (January 24, 2012) to ban the sale, release, importation and possession of American Bullfrogs. This makes Santa Cruz the first city in the country to take such a step, and sets an important precedent for other jurisdictions to follow. The non-native frogs spread chytrid fungus and prey on native wildlife. California currently imports several million of the bullfrogs into the state each year. This is the first piece of legislation SAVE THE FROGS! has gotten passed. On February 28, 2012 the County of Santa Cruz will vote on similar legislation. We are currently petitioning the Governor Jerry Brown to make statewide bullfrog legislation.

Read these two news stories for more info on the bullfrog ban
– Public News Service article
– KION article

As the Founder & Executive Director of SAVE THE FROGS!, the world’s leading amphibian conservation organization, and as a former citizen of San Francisco, I feel obligated to respond to the Chronicle’s recent editorial “On Golf Versus Critters”, which incorrectly describes the Sharp Park Golf Course as being suitable habitat for endangered frogs, and dangerously labels people who care about protecting San Francisco’s wildlife populations as “hard-line environmentalists”.

Wetlands are among the most endangered ecosystems on the planet and over 90 percent of California’s coastal wetlands have been destroyed. So I do not consider myself an extremist for thinking it is unethical and outdated that the City of San Francisco is using taxpayer funds to pump the Sharp Park Wetlands out to sea to create dry land for golfing at Sharp Park. Draining the wetlands strands the egg masses of federally endangered California Red-Legged Frogs. The City’s pumps are situated at the most important Red-Legged Frog breeding pond and they suck the tadpoles out to sea. The endangered San Francisco Garter Snakes that inhabit the site depend on the frogs as a food source, and as the frogs go, so do the snakes. It is not “hard-line” to want to protect the endangered species that bear the name of my favorite city and state; rather, it is my duty as a Californian.
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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 2011 SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest received so many cool mushroom frog art drawings from around the world that we were inspired to create this webpage dedicated to our favorite amphibians and fungi. Please download your favorite images and email them to your friends or post them on your website to help spread the word. Enjoy!

savethefrogs.com/mushrooms

Mushroom Frog Art by Ishika Dey, India

Congratulations to Blum High School in Blum, TX and Pope John Paul II Catholic Academy in Dorchester, MA: both schools agreed to stop dissecting animals for a minimum of 5 years in exchange for the free Digital Frog 2.5 software.

Your school can get the free software too:
In coordination with the Animal Welfare Institute and Digital Frog International, we are offering a free Full Site License of the Digital Frog 2.5 software (valued at $884) to ANY school in the USA that agrees to abandon their animal dissection programs for a 5-year period. To receive the free software, please have the relevant member of your school’s faculty sign and send in this contract.

Please Post This Flyer In Your School!
Please post the jpeg on your website; right-click the image to download the 8.5×11″ PDF (left-clicking may work too!).

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: