Scientists and vets are urging the president to afford the world’s most traded species better protections
The French chef Gilles Reinhardt prepares frog legs in the restaurant of Paul Bocuse in Collonges au Mont D'Or near LyonThe French chef Gilles Reinhardt prepares frog legs in the restaurant of Paul Bocuse in Collonges au Mont D'Or near LyonMore than 500 experts from research, veterinary and conservation groups have called on Emmanuel Macron, the French president, to “end the overexploitation of frogs” and afford the most traded species better protections.
The EU imports the equivalent of 80-200 million frogs each year, the majority of which are consumed in France. Most come from wild populations in Indonesia, Turkey and Albania, as well as from farms in Vietnam, according to a study by Robin des Bois and ProThe practice is “not at all in line” with the EU’s wildlife strategy, said Sandra Altherr, the head of science at Pro Wildlife. “It’s absurd: the natural frog populations here in Europe are protected under EU law.
A group of 46 environment NGOs made a similar request of the French environment ministry in February.) has apparently disappeared from commercial imports to France, according to the letter to Macron, while two more common species – the crab-eating frog (Frogs also play important roles in ecosystems and on farms. Tadpoles can improve water quality in ponds and frogs can help farmers use fewer pesticides. They could also help keep infectious disease at bay by eating mosquitoes.
Alain Moussu, the president of the Vétérinaires pour la Biodiversité, a third group that organised the letter, said veterinarians have joined the initiative in large numbers. “They are both sensitive to the cruelty that prevails in this market and concerned about the ecological imbalances caused by the collapse of amphibian populations,” he said.