One organization, the Rufford Foundation is working to save the goliath frog by protecting its natural habitat and raising awareness among locals. Scientists believe goliath frogs have been around for over 250 million years. The decline in population led to the government of Equatorial Guinea limiting their exportation to only a maximum of 300 frogs per year. This also has led to a significant drop in their population. In addition to threats from poaching and habitat destruction, goliath frogs now face a deadly pathogenic chytrid fungus which has caused fatal fungal infections. Though goliath frogs in zoos have a longer lifespan, they have been shown to be shy and inactive making it difficult to breed them which in turn affects their population. The IUCN currently classifies the species as threatened and on its Red List. This has had a great impact on their population, causing the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to call for urgent conservation measures to save the goliath frogs from extinction. for participation in frog jumping contests too. Many goliath frogs are exported to the U.S. Locals living near the frog’s habitat hunt them with the intention of eating them or exporting them as pets in a well-established pet trade in the region.
The daunting size and weight of the goliath bullfrogs has made them an easy target for food by locals. Mature goliath frogs feed on mice, spiders, crabs, smaller frogs, snakes and even bats.
Ecologists have used this behavior to try to explain why the goliath frogs have such a small habitat range. Goliath tadpoles feed on a single species of an aquatic plant which is found only near waterfalls and rapids. They are often hunted at night where the poachers carrying a torch and armed with a gun shine the torch around to spot them by their eyes before shooting them. As a result, their population is quickly dwindling due to habitat destruction and poaching from humans. The species’ natural habitat is in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea and in a particularly small habitat range.
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