Scientists and vets are urging the president to afford the world’s most traded species better protections
France’s hunger for frogs’ legs is “destructive to nature” and endangering amphibians in Asia and south-east Europe, a group of scientists and vets have warned.
More than 500 experts from research, veterinary and conservation groups have called on Emmanuel Macron, the French president, to “end the overexploitation of frogs” and afford the most traded species better protections.
The EU imports the equivalent of 80-200 million frogs each year, the majority of which are consumed in France. Most come from wild populations in Indonesia, Turkey and Albania, as well as from farms in Vietnam, according to a study by Robin des Bois and Pro Wildlife, two conservation nonprofits that organised the letter.
The practice is “not at all in line” with the EU’s wildlife strategy, said Sandra Altherr, the head of science at Pro Wildlife. “It’s absurd: the natural frog populations here in Europe are protected under EU law. But the EU still tolerates the collection of millions of animals in other countries – even if this threatens the frog populations there.”
This is the best summary I could come up with:
France’s hunger for frogs’ legs is “destructive to nature” and endangering amphibians in Asia and south-east Europe, a group of scientists and vets have warned.
More than 500 experts from research, veterinary and conservation groups have called on Emmanuel Macron, the French president, to “end the overexploitation of frogs” and afford the most traded species better protections.
Most come from wild populations in Indonesia, Turkey and Albania, as well as from farms in Vietnam, according to a study by Robin des Bois and Pro Wildlife, two conservation nonprofits that organised the letter.
More frogs’ legs are eaten in France – often fried in batter or sautéed with garlic and parsley – than in any other country in the EU.
Alain Moussu, the president of the Vétérinaires pour la Biodiversité, a third group that organised the letter, said veterinarians have joined the initiative in large numbers.
“They are both sensitive to the cruelty that prevails in this market and concerned about the ecological imbalances caused by the collapse of amphibian populations,” he said.
The original article contains 404 words, the summary contains 172 words. Saved 57%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
I’m surprised to hear that frogs legs were still as popular as the French stereotype.
It’s time for a campaign to make frogs legs unpopular in France, like the campaign against shark fin soup in China.
Eh, why do we need to make them unpopular? I love the taste of frog legs (also mostly know them from european made - east asian cuisine). They are bound to have a very good Feed Conversion Ratio, especially when comparing to beef cattle. If this article is spreading the truth, farming them is possible. So maybe we only need to change it up from hunting to farming.
This is an entirely uninformed question: would it not be easy to breed frogs for consumption like we do other animals?
It says they get the frogs from Vietnamese farms in part.
And I don’t see any evidence that the frogs are actually endangered, that sounds like a supposition.
The thing with frogs is that they’re damned good at reproduction. Of course some of them will be threatened, I’m not doubting it even though the article doesn’t present evidence. But yeah, farming shouldn’t be too hard. For many frog species at least.
My doubt in endangered frog populations comes from the lack of evidence in the article and anecdotal personal experience.
I’ve traveled to many countries in Asia in recent years, not once having seen the frog dishes crossed off the menu while other dishes frequently are has the ingredients for that dish become scarce.
I was in Cambodia recently and literally had to stop walking for a while because the path I was walking on had thousands of little baby frogs migrating somewhere.
I would need to see you some hard evidence for troubles in asian frog populations
The frogs bred for consumption are typically bull frogs or pig frogs. These are not the endangered frogs. Endangered frogs are tiny, their entire body weight is probably less than a single leg of a bull frog and its not commercially viable.
The endangered frogs are native to places like South America, where they are suffering from a loss of habitat and from chemical pesticide/herbicide run off from farms that are killing them off. In other regions they also suffer from light pollution.
I doubt its that the French are to blame, especially when east asia has a huge consumption of frog legs
??? Frogs breed super quick and aren’t that tricky to breed in captivity? I’d even go so far and say that frog meat should be rather sustainable since they eat insects which we can also breed effectively and they in turn can eat refuse from farming. I also haven’t ever seen or heard about the frog being of a particular breed or “wild caught” being part of the allure, nor seen it mentioned in a menu. This whole thing is absurd.
Imagine the riot if we try to take frog legs away from the fucking French.
I don’t know. I think I ate some once. Don’t know anyone that actually eat some often. Bet it’s mostly tourist traps selling them.
Wait…is it really not a common French thing? Like I didn’t think it was your hamburgers or some shit like that but I figured it was at least somewhat common over there with all the talk about it
I’m not French, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they were mostly a tourist thing. I’ve had frog legs before at a fish camp in Florida, and I’m guessing the regulars didn’t normally eat them (although the gator tail was pretty good). They’re kinda slimy and chicken like, they’re a pain to eat, and there’s little meat on them. They’re just not worth the effort.
