Global Appetite for Frog Legs Threatens Species

Jan. 27, 2009 -- The world's frogs face yet another threat to their survival: overeating by humans.

A global team of researchers has estimated that the international trade in frog meat represents 200 million to 1 billion frogs eaten each year, or about 11,000 tons of frog meat.

The team analyzed commodity-trading data from the United Nations to obtain the best possible estimates of the international frog leg trade.

"We don't have the global culture of eating frogs in our minds," said study author Corey Bradshaw of the University of Adelaide in Australia. "We wouldn't consider them a staple, but for a lot of people in Asia and South America, it is a staple."

The largest destination for frog legs is, predictably, France. "Most people would probably be surprised that the U.S. is a very close second," Bradshaw said.

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Indonesia is the largest exporter by far. But international trade is only part of the picture. The researchers estimate that the domestic consumption of frogs in Indonesia dwarfs the nation's exports by at least two- to seven-fold.

The U.N. estimates are rough, the researchers point out, and much remains unknown. For instance, it is almost impossible to identify which species are being traded. Endangered populations -- inadvertently or not -- may be part of the trade.

"They have a general idea of what species are taken, but the details are practically nonexistent," Bradshaw said.