India's Most Wanted -- Frogs

A few weeks ago Dr SD Biju, a prominent Indian scientist amphibians, led by volunteers around the Forest Lake Mirik in Darjeeling, West Bengal. They were in light of the genera belonging to this region. Here it is not habitat destruction, which has led to the disappearance of frogs, but the fact that locals are comsumer.

This is just one of the few obstacles for this team, which operates under the umbrella organization for Lost Indian Amphibians (LAI), launched in November 2010 will travel the country to rediscover India
"Lost" amphibians.

Unfortunately, more than 50 species of amphibians in India, mostly frogs and caecilians, thought to have died out because no one has seen them for 10 years. Some have not seen the 18, some 169 years. The figures are alarming, considering that about 60 percent of amphibians in India has not anywhere else in the world.

Dr. Biju, the coordinator and the idea, Lai said: "They have been around for centuries and has seen many animals go extinct. But now in this category are also rapidly disappearing."

He believes that because of habitat loss. "Many would be around, but not for long, if no measures are taken to preserve them."

Members of the expedition, apart from the washing of looking for lost species, and study them and try to involve the local forest department officials maintain. But it is not easy. Most of these areas are wetlands, rain forests and protected areas. Plus, these animals come only at night.

But the results are new. LAI has been rediscovered by the five species of frogs were dead. These include the Green Bubble-nest Frog Chalazodes Tamil Nadu, 136 years after the visually impaired, Anamalai Dot Frog from Kerala after 73 years, from the elegant Torrent Frog, after 73 years in Karnataka, Uttarakhand from Frog Stream after 25 years, and Silent Valley tropical frog from Kerala after 30 years.

More than 19 expeditions have been made this year. Dr. Biju says: "We have found many interesting species that have been identified, many species are NOK lost, but some may never before have identified ..

Let's results announcement in September. "

Although amphibians are threatened with extinction worldwide, he said steps are being taken to preserve them in other countries. "There are only certain activities aimed at the protection of animals," he says.

Dr. Caesar Sengupta, nature photographers, who participated in many expeditions to the LAI, said: "Conservation activities in India to focus only on the tiger and elephant Although they are equally important, as are amphibians Without them, there is a high biological diversity in the trade ... "