Here in the United States, the consumption of frogs' legs is almost universally pinned on the French, with some detours for Southerners and Asians. But those long, meaty, silky legs are prized worldwide, to the tune of more than 500 million frogs slaughtered in this country for their limbs alone–and we're behind in numbers compared to the rest of the world Such a ravenous worldwide appetite is hardly sustainable, and guess what? It ain't: a new study shows that this trade is contributing the rapid depletion, if not outright extinction of frog species worldwide.
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Titled “Canapés to Extinction: The International Trade in Frogs' Legs and Its Ecological Impact,” the report is a tour de force of stats, history, descriptions, and breakdowns. “Humans have been eating frogs for ages. But today the practice is not
sustainable on a global scale,” said Alejandra Goyenechea,
director of international conservation programs for Defenders of
Wildlife (the group that commissioned the report) in a press release. “Billions of frogs are traded internationally each year for
human consumption, and that industry is responsible for depleting wild
populations, spreading deadly disease, and allowing invasive species to
destroy the health of native ecosystems.”
Good ol' humanity: chomping away with no thought to the future…in other news, the mahi-mahi population is STILL depleted…
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