There’s a lot that people can learn from frogs, like how they never drink up the pond in which they live. We’ll be learning a lot more about frogs soon now that Save the Frogs, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to saving the world’s best known amphibian, has decided to move its headquarters to Santa Cruz.
“Amphibians are the most threatened group on the planet,” says the group’s founder, Kerry Kriger. There are a total of 6,317 amphibian species, of which the vast majority, 5,576, are frogs and toads. These range from the tiny sapo-gulpa of Brazil to the enormous foot-long, Goliath frog of Western Africa (not a frog you’d want to kiss). While they may be adorable (or tasty, depending on your preferences), frogs might also play an important role in medicine. The skin secretions from at least three species of Australian frogs are said to completely inhibit HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Kriger will be giving a talk on frogs at 3pm this Wednesday at the Santa Cruz Main Library. He hopes to get the community interested in batrachology (the study of amphibians), ways to help Save the Frogs, and the upcoming Save the Frogs Day on April 30. Read more at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
