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 TradeWild Pets and Laboratory Animals: Frogs A thriving trade in terrarium frogs has resulted in a worldwide market for many species of these amphibians. The world's largest frog, the Goliath Frog (Conraura goliath) of Central Africa, weighs 7.2 pounds and reaches a length of at least 32 inches. It is found along major rivers in dense tropical rainforests in Equatorial Guinea and southwest Cameroon (FWS 1991). Throughout its range, it is very rare and has unusual habitat requirements. It needs rapids and cascades with sandy bottoms and very clean, oxygen-rich water; deforestation has reduced this habitat (FWS 1991). Collectors have offered huge sums up to $2,500 for capture and export of Goliath Frogs--for personal pets or public exhibition. This species is listed on the U.S. Endangered Species Act as Threatened and protected from export in most of its range. Yet unscrupulous dealers capture them and ship them to collectors under false documentation. The Fish and Wildlife Service Law Enforcement Division conducted an undercover investigation in which an English animal dealer in Cameroon shipped 10 Goliath Frogs to California with false documents. Nine arrived dead, and a California judge sent the dealer to jail for 70 days. The trade in live frogs, which have extremely high death rates in transport, extends to rare poison dart frogs of South America and threatened frogs of Madagascar (see Islands chapter). Wealthy collectors are willing to pay high prices for these amphibians. This destructive and unnecessary trade is now growing, threatening more species each year.
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