So What's the Problem With Frogs and Toads in Hawai'i?

Home Bullfrog Cane Toad Caribbean Frog Poison-Dart Frog Wrinkled Frog	We have come to love Kermit the Frog on "Sesame Street" and Arnold Lobel's "Frog and Toad are Friends."The world's leading conserva- tionists have joined together to declare 2008 (a leap year) as "The Year of the Frog" to call attention to the fact that up to a third of the amphibian species could be extin- guished because of habitat loss, disease, and climate change. We should all lament the demise of the frog and toad. But the story in Hawai'i is different and complicated. Hawai'i has no native land amphibian so all frogs and toads are in performing pest control services, too many in	the wrong place, can wreak worse havoc. This website is devoted to telling the story of Hawai'i's frogs and toads-- where they came from, how they came to Hawai'i, what problems they encountered and caused, and the controversy they generated. As many as 16 different species of frogs and toads have been found in Hawai'i. Many were released as pets, some introduced purposefully for insect control. Most did not establish themselves in Hawai'i. We will discuss 5 of them that have become well entrenched in Hawai'i.

We have come to love Kermit the Frog on "Sesame Street" and Arnold Lobel's "Frog and Toad are Friends."The world's leading conserva- tionists have joined together to declare 2008 (a leap year) as "The Year of the Frog" to call attention to the fact that up to a third of the amphibian species could be extin- guished because of habitat loss, disease, and climate change. We should all lament the demise of the frog and toad. But the story in Hawai'i is different and complicated. Hawai'i has no native land amphibian so all frogs and
toads are in performing pest control services, too many in

the wrong place, can wreak worse havoc.

This website is devoted to telling the story of Hawai'i's frogs and toads-- where they came from, how they came to Hawai'i, what problems they encountered and caused, and the controversy they generated. As many as 16 different species of frogs and toads have been found in Hawai'i. Many were released as pets, some introduced purposefully for insect control. Most did not establish themselves in Hawai'i. We will discuss 5 of them that have become well entrenched in Hawai'i.

This Web Site was created following the Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia. Certain materials were used under the Fair Use exemption of the U.S. Copyright Law. When required, written permission was obtained for use of images and videos; credit to the sources was indicated for each item. Contact the designer Karen Yamaga at yamaga@hawaii.edu for questions or comments by e-mail. Date created April 09, 2008. Updated May 07, 2008.

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