Scientists with the non-profit SAVE THE FROGS! Ghana have rediscovered the Krokosua Squeaker Frog (Arthroleptis krokosua) after four years of searchin
Scientists with the non-profit SAVE THE FROGS! Ghana have rediscovered the Krokosua Squeaker Frog (Arthroleptis krokosua) after four years of searching the African nation. It was found in Ghana’s Western Region Sui River Forest Reserve by a nine member team led by SAVE THE FROGS! Ghana Executiv e Director Gilbert Adum as well as students with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology's Department of Wildlife and Range Management.
According to SAVE THE FROGS! Ghana, the Krokosua Squeaker Frog was first identified 11 years ago from a single specimen that was found in the Krokosua Hills in Western Ghana. No other specimens were found until 2009 when research scientists found just 14 more frogs at the Sui River Forest Reserve. The frog that was discovered th is week was found in an entirely new location at the highest point of the Sui Hills.
The frog apparently is facing threats from logging, mining, farming, and an invasive species called Devil weed, also known as Acheampong weed (Chromolaena Odorata). This weed, according to Sandra Owusu-Gyamfi, program coodinator for SAVE THE FROGS! Gha na may be one of the reasons that the frog is not able to recover. The weed made its way th Ghana in the 1970s and serves as fuel for brushfires that devastate entire landscapes i n the country. It is pervasive in all areas of the country, including river and stream banks and other bodies of water that are potential breeding grounds for the frog. SAVE THE FROGS! USA founder Dr. Kerry Kriger has called for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to classify the frog as an endangered species.
