Ghana races to preserve rare Atewa slippery frog

DW (English)

Mining, drought and hunting is driving the Atewa slippery frog to the brink of extinction. A conservation organization is working with communities to try to turn that around.

Transcript

00:00Wading through these muddy waters, it's hard to see the tiny creature they're looking for.

00:04But after hours of searching, finally success.

00:10This tadpole is the only sign the team from Herb Conservation Ghana has seen of the Attawa

00:14Slippery Frog in their search, a species that experts say is on the brink of extinction.

00:19So the sediments from the illegal mining usually get into the water bodies, I mean these streams,

00:27and then it endangers the habitat of these frogs.

00:30So they end up, you know, we end up losing them, and it's become quite a menace.

00:38At the captive laboratory, the team is using the tadpoles to breed the frogs.

00:43Their mission is to boost the population with the aim of saving the species.

00:47First discovered in 2006, there are estimated to be around a thousand in the wild, with

00:53numbers declining.

00:58We have about 22 tadpoles in these tanks, which we are breeding to successfully be able to

01:11have up to 400 slippery frogs in the next five years, and release them back into their natural

01:21habitats.

01:23The Attawa species is related to another critically endangered creature, the Togo Slippery Frog,

01:29found on the border between Togo and Ghana.

01:31Threats to both species are bauxite mining and drought, drying up of freshwater streams.

01:38But another major threat is hunting.

01:40Frogs are considered a delicacy here.

01:43The reason why we hunt the frog is because we have no jobs.

01:50Although we know their numbers are falling, we have no options.

01:53That's how we feed our families.

01:55I come to catch the frogs, I go home and sell them.

01:59I will be able to provide for the house because I have two kids and a wife.

02:05Togo Conservation is working with communities to set up projects, like ecotourism, to create

02:11a new source of income from the slippery critters.

02:13They hope that people will work with them to save the frogs and their habitat.

02:22So now we're going to take care of the frogs.

02:25And they're going to eat those habitats.

02:28In fact, this is a particular instance, according to the palm tree where they're for the

02:31giants and the wild cause.

02:33As far as the palm tree has been able to be growing, they are a little bit official, and they

02:34will move their heads up.

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