Non-Native Bullfrogs Are a Threat to Repopulation Effort

Editor,

The EAST BAY TIMES featured an encouraging 8/12 story regarding the Oakland Zoo’s efforts to restore the threatened yellow-legged frog.

These native frogs haven’t much of a chance until the state’s non-native American bullfrog problem is addressed.  California annually imports TWO MILLION commercially-raised American bullfrogs for human consumption, plus an estimated 300,000 freshwater turtles, all taken from the wild. All are diseased and/or parasitized, though it is illegal to sell such products.  These frogs are routinely released into local waters, where they prey upon and displace the native species.

The majority of the market bullfrogs test positive for a chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or Bd), which has caused the extinctions of some 200 amphibian species worldwide in recent years.  The bullfrogs’ continued presence in California poses a major threat to the yellow-legged frogs and others.

Despite 3,000+ letters since the mid-1990’s, the California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) continues to issue import permits for these animals, imperiling our native species and the public health.  The permits should cease immediately.  The Fish & Game Commission has twice voted unanimously to stop the permits, but were ignored by the Department.

Write:  DFW Director Chuck Bonham, 1416 Ninth Street, Sacramento, CA 95814; email: director@wildlife.ca.gov

Relatedly, if you care about wildlife and the environment, vote NO! on the cynical G.O.P. effort to recall Governor Gavin Newsom.

–Eric Mills, Oakland