BULLFROGS EVADE NATURAL HABITAT

[Anchor Lead]

Imported bullfrogs are a serious threat to the local river and reservoir ecosystems. These ecological predators are even invading the habitats of endangered indigenous frogs.

[Pkg]

Traps set up the day before are pulled up at a reservoir three times the size of a football field. The traps are filled with bullfrogs and tadpoles.

[Soundbite] Choi Il-hwan(President, Hunters Assn., Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do Prov.) : "We placed 150 traps over the past week but the frogs keep getting caught. There must be a lot of them."

About a ton of bullfrogs were caught in just one week. Freshwater shrimps and carp that used to live in the reservoir have all but disappeared.

[Soundbite] Jeong Heon-tae(Local Resident) : "I used to catch fish and make soup with them. But now that there are so many bullfrogs, all the native freshwater fish are gone."

A bullfrog can get as big as 40 centimeters and even a tadpole measures 15 centimeters long. They are powerful predators that voraciously feed on native creatures. They even invade the habitats of endangered native frogs. The Chungnam Institute studied 56 indigenous frog habitats for a decade and found that five habitats of critically endangered spotless tree toads have completely disappeared while 12 habitats of endangered Seoul pond frogs have been wiped out.

[Soundbite] Jeong Ok-sik(Researcher, Chungnam Institute) : "More focused supervision is needed for endangered species and their habitats."

Imported species have encroached upon the local ecosystems for a long time now. Comprehensive efforts are urgently needed to protect the habitats of local creatures.