Taijiang National Park euthanizes more than 4,000 banded bullfrogs

Tainan, May 29 (CNA) Taijiang National Park in southern Taiwan has euthanized more than 4,000 banded bullfrogs since 2020 in an effort to prevent the non-indigenous species from over-reproducing, a park service staffer told CNA on Wednesday.

The non-native species, whose scientific name is Kaloula pulchra, makes a "loud noise" and is capable of adapting to different environments and laying over 5,000 eggs at a time, making it necessary to control the population, the staffer said.

The national park in Tainan began monitoring the frog species after it was first spotted in 2018 and capped the population one year later at about 1,000. As a result, from 2020-2023 the park euthanized 4,212 frogs, the staffer said.

According to the national park headquarters, the frogs mainly populate southern Taiwan, especially Chengxi Windbreak Forest in the park. However, they have recently been sighted in central and northern areas of the island, including reports of the frogs being spotted in Miaoli County.

To raise public awareness of the non-native species' impact on the local ecosystem, the park headquarters has held an annual educational gathering since 2020 to introduce people to the frog species and instruct people on how to catch them.

This year's event will take place on June 29.

Banded bullfrogs can grow as large as 7.5 centimeters in length and makes a sound that can be as loud as 70 decibels, the Environmental Information Center writes on its official website.

The species' primary habitat is Southeast Asia and southern China, and it was first spotted in Taiwan in 1998 in Kaohsiung.