The Giant Peru Frog, also known as the “wrinkled frog” due to its wrinkly skin, is critically endangered due to human hunting and invasive species that have pushed it to the brink of extinction. Scientists from various countries are currently working to save this species from total extinction. This frog species primarily inhabits Lake Titicaca, located on the border between Bolivia and Peru.
The Titicaca Frog is a large freshwater frog in the family Telmatobiidae, classified as critically endangered. It is the only large frog species found exclusively in Lake Titicaca. Today, the Titicaca frog has drastically declined and is facing extinction due to human activities, pollution, and predation of tadpoles by invasive salmon species.
This frog species is scientifically known as Telmatobius culeus. Its entire body is covered in wrinkles, giving it an unusual appearance; however, it is one of the largest aquatic frog species in the world. This is also an extremely endangered species that needs to be saved.
In the past two decades, this frog has become increasingly rare due to overhunting and habitat destruction, not to mention other aquatic species encroaching on the habitat of this wrinkled frog, preying on its eggs and tadpoles. This frog species is on the brink of extinction.
No one knows how many Giant Peru Frogs still exist in the wild, but it is estimated that the population has declined by up to 80% over a decade, from 1994 to 2004. Recently, an unexplained event in 2016 claimed the lives of at least 10,000 wrinkled frogs, and scientists have been unable to explain what happened. The most plausible explanation for this event is that human wastewater has affected the frogs’ habitat.
“According to local investigators and the samples of dead frogs sent back, it is believed that over 10,000 frogs died in this incident, spanning an area of water 50 km wide,” stated the National Wildlife Conservation Authority of Peru.
The wrinkled frog is the largest freshwater frog in the world, with an average length of 14 cm, and individuals can reach lengths of up to 50 cm. This species is classified as “Critically Endangered” in both Bolivia and Peru and falls under the “Endangered” category according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This frog is facing extinction due to hunting for food, along with threats from environmental pollution and predation by invasive salmon.
Currently, efforts to save the frog species are underway, supported by the governments of Bolivia and Peru. Lake Titicaca is located on the border between the two countries and is also the highest navigable lake in the world, situated at an altitude of 3,812 meters above sea level.
The Titicaca Frog lives entirely underwater and is only found in Lake Titicaca and the rivers flowing into this lake in South America. This frog species has reduced lungs; instead, it has a large, wrinkled skin layer that helps it breathe easily in its high-altitude habitat. They have enormous wrinkled skin layers that can significantly increase their body surface area, allowing them to absorb more oxygen.
“With the support of the United Nations Development Program and funding from the Global Environment Facility, the governments of Bolivia and Peru have coordinated efforts to establish a cross-border team to protect and study the Giant Titicaca Frog,” announced the Natural History Museum of Bolivia on Facebook.
Chester Zoo is the first zoo in Europe to house a species listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Currently, Chester Zoo has partnered with researchers from Cayetano Heredia University in Peru and Alcide d’Orbigny of the Natural History Museum in Bolivia to establish an organization aimed at saving the wrinkled frogs and ensuring their future in Lake Titicaca.
Since the lake is the primary habitat for this frog, most conservation efforts will focus on investigating the populations in the lake and identifying environmental factors that may affect their breeding and maturation. Researchers have noted that food sources for the frogs have impacted their populations, and an invasive fish species has also been shown to prey on the frogs when they are still small tadpoles.
In the 1970s, an expedition led by Jacques Cousteau reported that these frogs could reach lengths of up to 50 cm when fully extended, with individuals often weighing 1 kg, making them some of the largest freshwater frogs in the world (except for the Batrachophagous macrostomus, which is larger, such as the African Goliath frog, which can sometimes be seen on land).
