Keep the coquí alive!
Posted on May 15th, 2008 - 10:30 AMAbout the author: Lina Younes has been working for EPA since 2002 and chairs EPA’s Multilingual Communications Task Force. Prior to joining EPA, she was the Washington bureau chief for two Puerto Rican newspapers and she has worked for several government agencies.
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When my friend Jeff M. came back from Hawaii, he mentioned the Hawaiian-Puerto Rican controversy over the tiny Puerto Rican frog, the coquí-the Eleutherodactylus coquí.
The controversy or “national conflict” depending if you ask a Puerto Rican, made front page headlines several years ago when Puerto Rico got wind of Hawaii’s efforts to eradicate these innocent Puerto Rican frogs. How did they travel thousands of miles across the oceans? Apparently some innocent coquís got on a plant shipment from the tropical paradise in the Caribbean to a similar paradise thousands of miles away in the Pacific. Needless to say, in that tropical setting without any indigenous predators, these Puerto Rican coquis have multiplied abundantly!
These small frogs are known for their melodious nocturnal sounds in Puerto Rico. They have been the inspiration for numerous songs, stories, and poetry. These small amphibians have become an unofficial symbol of Puerto Rico. In fact, I just read a newspaper article in Puerto Rico, that the Sierra Club-PR and the University of Puerto Rico hosted an Earth Day event to promote the defense of the coquí.
Yet, the coquís-named after their musical chirping-cokée, cokée–have not received a warm aloha from our fellow U.S. citizens in Hawaii.
In fact, what is music to the ears of many Puerto Ricans became more than a amphibian cacophony over in the Pacific. In Hawaii, the coquí chants have been compared to the noise pollution caused by lawn mowers! That’s hard for me to conceptualize, given the fond memories of listening to the coquís at nighttime. I remember many a rainy night falling asleep to the symphony of these harmless creatures. They are so small and defenseless! But for the residents of the state of Hawaii, the Puerto Rican coquís are doomed for complete eradication and some of the methods are not benign at all
It’s true that the Puerto Rican coquí has become an invasive species in Hawaii, yet I still don’t see how coquís challenge Hawaiian wildlife. I still cannot understand why their chants are not music to the ears of the inhabitants of this Island State. Sad to say, it all boils down to one man’s friend is another man’s foe.
Nonetheless-please save the Puerto Rican coquí.
¡Qué viva el coquí!
Sobre la autor: Lina M. F. Younes ha trabajado en la EPA desde el 2002 y está a cargo del Grupo de Trabajo sobre Comunicaciones Multilingües. Como periodista, dirigió la oficina en Washington de dos periódicos puertorriqueños y ha laborado en varias agencias gubernamentales.
Cuando mi amigo Jeff M. regresó de Hawaí, mencionó la controversia entre Hawaí-Puerto Rico sobre la pequeña ranita puertorriqueña, el coquí-Eleutherodactylus coquí.
Esta controversia o “conflicto nacional” si le pregunta a un puertorriqueño, fue motivo de titulares de primera plana hace varios años atrás cuando Puerto Rico se enteró de los esfuerzos hawaianos por erradicar estos pequeños anfibios. ¿Cómo viajaron miles de millas por los océanos? Aparentemente unos inocentes coquíes estaban en un cargamento de plantas que viajaron del paraíso tropical en el Caribe a otro paraíso semejante miles de millas de distancia en el Pacífico. ¡Demás está decir que en ese entorno tropical sin enemigo autóctono en Hawaí, estos coquíes se multiplicaron abundantemente!
Estos pequeños anfibios se caracterizan por los sonidos nocturnos en Puerto Rico. Han servido de inspiración a numerosas canciones, cuentos, y poesías . Estos pequeños anfibios se han convertido en un símbolo extraoficial de Puerto Rico. De hecho, acabo de leer un artículo de periódico anunciando que el Sierra Club-PR y la Universidad de Puerto Rico auspiciaron un evento del Día del Planeta Tierra para promover la defensa del coquí.
Sin embargo, los coquíes-conocidos por su melodioso cantar-coquí, coquí-no han recibido un caluroso aloha de sus conciudadanos estadounidenses en Hawaí.
De hecho, lo que es música para los oídos de muchos puertorriqueños se convirtió en una cacofonía anfibia allá en el Pacífico. ¡En Hawaí, el cantar del coquí ha sido comparado a la contaminación de ruido ocasionado por las cortadoras de césped! Me es difícil conceptualizarlo dado los gratos recuerdos de escuchar a los coquíes al anochecer. Recuerdo muchas noches lluviosas quedarme dormida con la sinfonía de estas criaturas inofensivas. ¡Son pequeñas e indefensas! Pero para los residentes del estado de Hawaí, los coquíes puertorriqueños están condenados a erradicación completa y algunos de los métodos no son nada de benignos.
Es cierto que el coquí puertorriqueño se ha convertido en una especie invasora en Hawaí, pero todavía no veo cómo los coquíes amenazan la vida silvestre hawaiana. Tampoco entiendo el por qué su cantar no es música para los oídos de los habitantes de este estado isleño. Lamento decir, que la controversia se limita al hecho de que la criatura que es amiga para unos resulta enemiga de otros.
Independientemente de la clasificación-ayuden a salvar al coquí puertorriqueño.
Tags: coqui, puerto rico
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Question of the Week
May 15th, 2008 at 10:50 am
I got a mini coqui souvenir from a friend when he returned from a vacation in PR. Very cute! I guess its like birds or crickets….some people love the sounds, and some people hate the noise! Viva el coqui!!!
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May 15th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
¡¡¡Viva el coquí!!!! It’s music to my ears and I still can’t see why our fellow citizens in Hawaii don’t enjoy the music. Guess you have to have grown up with it. Thanks for commenting.
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May 16th, 2008 at 9:44 am
People sometimes ask me what I think the greatest environmental problem is and I say, without hesitation, ‘invasive species.’ The havoc the accidental and, often, intentional import of non-indigenous species has wreaked on ecosystems is, I think, larger than any other actions caused by man. Just two examples suffice. 100 years ago the most abundant tree in the Eastern United States was the American Chestnut tree. Good luck finding even one of them today. Currently, the most abundant bird in the same area, the English Sparrow, was intentionally introduced in the mid-1800s. But Lina raises a good question, at what point do we accept, and even embrace, an invasive specie?
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May 16th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
The coqui frog in Hawaii is now a predator that can and does eat whatever it can. A male can be as large as two inches and they are growing in size, able to go anywhere from the forest floor to the highest branch upsetting the balance of species that have been here for thousands of years. Yes, humans are invasive too, but at 20,000/per acre density possible in the forest’s this is not a cute frog…having one outside your bedroom window at night is like having someone honk a car horn every 3-4 seconds…the Amphibian Ark Project can have them all, and build a herpetarium here…
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May 17th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Your article is misdirected and naieve. Hawaii is a multicultural melting pot of ethnicities. But when it comes to this frog and the population densities that it can achieve in Hawaii, your cute frog has become an invasive pest. Do you wish to inpose that on Hawaii because of your ehnicity? I think not.
The frogs can become so numerous and the male’s call can be so loud because of the population densities, that normal conversation cannot be conducted between two people standing 5 feet apart. There are places in Hawaii where the frog’s desity is so high that individual calls can no longer be isolated and all one can hear is an oscillating wave. I do not think that is the “melodious nocturnal sounds” you are thinking about.
Then, if you are a thinking environmentalist, you should wonder what happens when an invasive species like this reaches the levels of biodensity to drown out all other Hawaiian night sounds. Real estate transactions now mandate a coqui frog discalimer. As if it were a environmental noise hazard. How ironic. Meditative, and quiet Hawaiian moonlit nights are becoming something of a memory. The bugs that these frogs are eating can no longer be available to the native birds and animals of our land.
It has become such a problem that Hawaii agriculture product shipments and deliveries suffer if a frog or eggs are found in the shipment. The fact that you seem to encourage the protection of this invasive species in a place that you do not live, and criticize our efforts shows a lack of respect and understanding of the sensitivity of the indigenous species of Hawaii from introduced species (intentional or accidental). Hawaii is already the endangered species poster child for the US. The coqui frog will place additional pressure on the dwindling Hawaiian species with its constant expansion and density of biomass per acre.
Our own agriculture experts mistakenly gave the coqui frog no additional thought when they first knew about it because they also did not thnk it would pose a problem. Now they know differently.
The fact that your write up shows up on an EPA site is even more shameful. You of all people should understand respect for another’s culture. The frog is like audible graffitti that is growing out of control here in Hawaii.
Please keep a copy of your article. 10 years from now, as you see how the frog has affected us here in Hawaii, you may be ashamed of it.
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May 19th, 2008 at 10:02 am
My response is directed to both Kookee and Eieio–First–thank you for your constructive responses. I would not characterize my blog as naive, but perhaps one that is based more in idyllic memories of my childhood.
Obviously, you are going to the heart of the discussion of invasive species. Since the PR coqui, in its own habitat, has been kept in check, I erroneously assumed that it would behave accordingly in its Hawaiian setting, but by your response, that is not the case. In lack of any natural predators, it has become a threat to your peaceful ecosystem.
I would like to note that several species of the PR coqui are currently threatened due to climate change, pollution, and uncontrolled growth on the Puerto Rican Islands. A recent article in the PR newspaper el Nuevo Día mentiones that 87% of these amphibians in the Caribbean are endangeres and three species have already disappeared in the Island. I don’t know if you read Spanish. But here’s the article.
http://www.elnuevodia.com/XStatic/endi/template/content.aspx?se=nota&id=403470
Se calienta el canto para el coquí
En el Caribe, 87% de los anfibios está en peligro de extinción y tres especies ya han desaparecido de la Isla.
Por Sara Del Valle Hernández / sdelvalle@elnuevodia.com
¿Qué tienen en común un oso polar y un coquí? ¿No lo adivina? Pues que ambos son especies que están amenazadas por los cambios climáticos que experimenta nuestro planeta.
Agraciadamente, los osos polares aún nos acompañan, pero ese no ha sido el destino de tres especies de coquíes endémicos de Puerto Rico que ya han sido reportados como “desaparecidos” por la comunidad científica: el coquí palmeado, el coquí dorado y el coquí eneida. Y si no se toman acciones correctivas, el coquí caoba, el martillito y el melodioso podrían encarar una suerte similar en los próximos años.
“En 2004 se documentó que la posible extinción de estas tres especies y la declinación de otras especies de anfibios endémicos de Puerto Rico se debe a los efectos combinados de un hongo y el calentamiento global”, explicó el doctor Rafael Joglar, herpetólogo experto en el tema de los coquíes. Este hongo, conocido como Bd (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) y del que aún no se conoce como opera, fue descubierto en 1998, pero se sabe que está presente en la Isla desde la década de 1970.
¿Dónde piensa pasar sus vacaciones de verano?
En Puerto Rico
Fuera del País
El estudioso argumentó que los cambios climáticos que se experimentan en el planeta han afectado de forma más directa a los anfibios, particularmente a los que habitan en la región del Caribe. “Un 87% de las especies de anfibios de esta área confrontan problemas. Una de las causas principales para esto es el cambio climático. Esto es conocido en el mundo científico como la crisis de los anfibios”, dijo.
El también profesor del Departamento de Biología de la UPR informó que al menos 165 especies de anfibios han desaparecido en los últimos 30 años. Tan grave es este problema, que la Asociación de Zoológicos y Acuarios (AZA, por sus siglas en inglés) ha declarado el 2008 como el Año de la Rana, en aras de concienciar a las personas sobre este asunto.
Por su parte, el doctor Ariel Lugo, director del Instituto Internacional de Dasonomía Tropical del Servicio Forestal, coincidió con Joglar en el sentido de que el coquí es una especie amenazada en la Isla. “Hablando del Caribe, el equivalente al oso polar es el coquí”, acotó.
Lugo también trajo a colación que en Puerto Rico y en otras partes del mundo hay un problema con el blanqueamiento de corales debido al aumento de las temperaturas en los océanos. Este proceso, en el cual los corales expulsan unas algas microscópicas que les aportan alimentos y les dan su hermoso color, puede dañar y destruir colonias enteras de arrecifes de coral.
No empece los peligros que acarrean, Lugo matizó que los cambios climáticos no sólo traen extinción, sino también un proceso de evolución. “La naturaleza no es pasiva. Los organismos tienen que moverse buscando su acomodo. No todo va en una sola dirección. Lo interesante es ver cómo la naturaleza se ajusta”, argumentó.
Salvemos los osos
Aunque los osos polares no están reconocidos como especies en peligro de extinción, la comunidad científica ciertamente está preocupada por los efectos que el calentamiento global tiene sobre su hábitat. De hecho, las imágenes de estos mamíferos flotando a la deriva sobre pedazos de hielo ártico los han convertido en el símbolo de los daños que causa este fenómeno atmosférico.
Sin embargo, el Departamento del Interior de Estados Unidos aún no toma una decisión de si incluye o no a estos mamíferos en la lista de especies en peligro de extinción.
En aras de que se tome una determinación final, tres grupos conservacionistas, entre ellos el Centro para la Diversidad Biológica, llevaron un recurso ante los tribunales para demandar que el gobierno de Estados Unidos tome una acción al respecto.
En días recientes, la jueza federal Claudia Wilken decidió que el Departamento del Interior tiene que tomar una decisión final de si lo incluye o no en la lista para este jueves, 15 de mayo.
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May 19th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Lina, I have been researching this frog issue for over 4 years, and have become very close to the coqui including the extinct ones… collecting/rearing/filming/breeding and yes looking for methods to control them. Also it seems from the one species that came over on a mass of floating debris thousands of years ago you now have all these different types of frogs on your island…chytrid fungus, pollution, human’s …nature’s response to change. Was the eneida the last one to be labelled extinct? I have found coqui’s here seem to be lining out into distinct populations, one looking very much like the eneida. They are showing up larger than before, a 2 1/2 inch male isn’t unusual anymore, with a call
much lower and louder than normal, perhaps Chief Coqui’s spirit has travelled over as well and is meeting with King Kamehameha.
The frog is evolving here, living high in the palms or hala trees where they have a source of food/water and may only need to come down if the chosen mate lays her eggs on the ground… eggs hatch here fine without a male sitting on them…. The frogs travel on cars/boxes/plants but also can survive extended journeys without food/water staying in a torpor state for 3 months…or until they escape..a trait carried over from it’s ancestors. Plain baking soda (not baking powder) controls them and I’m hoping that the State can work with EPA to get an SLN.
There are people like Sydney Singer who actively fight against the control of this species in Hawaii, but I think if he saw one chase down a young anole and eat it his opinion may change…in Hawaii they are moving up the food chain…you know you have a bad infestation when you no longer hear crickets chirping…they’ve eaten them and moved on, nature’s way with the help of human’s playing the part of the floating debris. “No kekahi o kakou ka plikia, malaila pu kakou a pau” (Should one of us get into trouble, we will all go that way). Mark Munekata/ coquifrognews.blogspot.com
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May 20th, 2008 at 3:13 am
Please hold on to your idyllic childhood memories, because like you, memories are all I will have of meditative and peaceful Hawaiian moonlit nights. The coqui frogs are taking that away from us here in Hawaii. As a matter of perspective, you are remembering the Geico geco, we are dealing with Godzilla. The problem that I have with your blog is not so much what you say, because you are entitled to an opinion. But it is because you say it with the perceived backing of the EPA. You have EPA credentials on an EPA site.
Environmental Protection Agency. Now that you know that even our real estate sales contracts warn the purchaser of land in Hawaii that there may be coqui frogs in the area, (and although they could affect a person’s ability to sleep and maybe their hearing), will you investigate the severity of this threat? What will your agency do to protect our Hawaiian environment? But instead of protection, your article seem to back the support for stopping eradication of an invasive species and even question why Hawaii people cannot love the sound of the frog (from your cultural perspective.) From my perspective you misuse you position.
Maybe I used the word naïve in haste. You are remembering something pleasant but the reality here in Hawaii is that we have a lot to lose:
-There is a difference in the price of real estate where the property exists in a frog infested area. I wonder what the cumulative cost for devalued property would be.
-What would be the cost to our tourism when the tourists can no longer stand “that bird” continually singing at night. Or worse yet when there are thousands of them screaming in the forests per acre, where it used to be peaceful breezes blowing through the palms(which can no longer be heard).
-What would the cost be to our agriculture sector when our products are condemned because frog eggs are found on a shipping container (not in the product, on the outside of the container.)
-What would the cost be to the native bat (which IS endangered), which uses sound to find its food. The frogs call would produce so much white noise that the bat fails to find food and starves. This is speculation but the military sonar opponents pose this same argument for the porposes and whales here in Hawaii.
-What would the cost be to all of the native endangered birds when the coqui frog penetrates the high forests and impacts their food fupply.
-What price do you place on the peaceful quietness of a forest, and the quality of life it presents.
From the cant of your article and the references you bring up, you appear to support a stop to our eradication efforts because the frog is becoming scarce in your home land. If all of this is based on nostalgic impressions (based on your culture) and we in Hawaii have so much to lose, and you were never here to feel our loss as you write your article based on your perspective, I do not know what other word to use, but naïve is the nicest one I know.
We are in disagreement about a frog. On the surface it is silly.
From your perspective, a nostalgic pleasantry of sound from a non poisonous frog.
From my perspective, an invasive pest that is taking away something precious; economic and qualitative elements of our lives here in Hawaii. Also my view is that you misuse your credentials and resources to boldly resist what you should protect by virtue of the agency you work for and the sensitivity of the credentials you hold (you should know how fragile island ecosystems are).
This is likened to China’s Opium War. The Chinese fought to keep opium out of their country. The foreign powers used politics and military might to force it upon them. In the end the Chinese lost. But now you know better, because we are no longer like that.
If you want to restore the frog in Puerto Rico, then focus on that and retitle the article to suit such an effort. Please do not rhetorically wonder why we in Hawaii would not love something that you do. We also love our Hawaii and what we are losing to this invasive pest.
If you really love your home land wish to restore frog populations there, get in touch with Kokee. He seems to have the “super ” frogs. I would have eradicated them.
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May 20th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Dear Eieio,
I’m glad that my blog has created this cyber-debate. How about if we change the title to “Keep the coquí in Puerto Rico alive!”
Estimado Eieio
Me alegra el debate cibernético que mi blog ha creado. ¿Qué pasaría si cambiamos el título a “Mantengan el coquí en Puerto Rico vivo!”
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May 20th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Coqui frogs are just another entry in a rapidly evolving Hawaiian ecosystem. The hype centered on these frogs is just that, hype. I live in Hilo HI and share my home with many creatures including lots of coqui.
I can understand a yearning for stability. Stability is never going to happen in this island ecosystem again. It never did exist anyway. The only thing that has changed is the rate of change. Today the system is changeing thousands of times faster than it did for it’s first few million years.
When the first humans arrived the rate of change was pushed way up, now it is faster still. It is not going to slow down and efforts to achive stability are doomed to frustration.
The coqui are not going to damage any hearing. I have guests come to my home and comment on the beauytiful jungle sounds in the night. When I tell them what makes the sounds they are enjoying they are confused. The eco-hype that surrounds these frogs leaves little room for rational thought. The reasons for this hype are proably many but if something doesnt seem to make sense I always try to see where the money angle is. It is unlikely that this frog can ever be removed from Hawaii. It calls in the night so it’s spread is easy for anyone to see. What a great way to get grant money. More hysteria = more grant money.
They may be an ecological disaster to some, but for me they are a blessing. Before the coqui the evenings at our home were filled with mosquitoes and it was no fun to be outside at all. Now thanks to these little singers the mosquitoes are very rare. One “invasive” species takes care of another. We need to remember that every living thing here invaded this ecosystem at some time.
There are many legends about Hawaiian ecology, promoted for various reasons. Miconia is a good example. A few years ago it was going to destroy the Island. Nothing effective was done about it and now it is blending in to the forest. I see it along the roadsides every day. When I have a chance I remove it but I am beginning to wonder why.
I invaded Hawaii about 35 years ago. Some of my friends famlies invaded this Island almost two thousand years ago and so it will continue.
I don’t want to say that we should not try to control what we share our home with. I just think that our energy should be put where it will have an effect.
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May 20th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Write another article focused on your efforts to restablish the frog in Puerto Rico and leave this article as is.
In Hawaii, we may be fighting a losing battle. Do you know how bad that feels? We do not need someone on the sidelines cheering on the enemy while we have so much to lose.
Instead, memorialize this article. 10 years is not long a time. It only took about 6 years for the coqui frog problem to exponentially explode on our Island. I expect that within those 10 years you will see headlines like, “Hawaiian endangered species threatened by coqui frog.” As if we never saw it comming. Your agency could help us. But will they?
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May 20th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Just want to point out that as I contribute to the Agency’s blog–Greenversations–I am sharing my personal thoughts about the environment with individuals like yourself who care deeply about our milieu and in making the world a better place for future generations. I welcome the exchange–we can all benefit from it.
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May 21st, 2008 at 1:32 am
To have a “live and let live” opinion on this only works if if doesn’t affect you (or you block it out)…you don’t like mosquitos.. someone may, people smuggle in snakes, pirrahna, ect…when they leave sometimes they let these things go…no issue because they like them. You see where this can go until someone let’s go something you don’t like….It may or maynot endanger anything, an agency may get funding to study it, a private citizen may do it on their own dime…There is hype going on, discussing it over dinner is one thing, being out in the forest/yards all hours of the night till the early morning working on the issue is another, some “expert opinions” may need to be adjusted. People will get involved to their comfort level, some take more convincing, some never change, it’s a choice. Mahalo Lena for the forum and the article that sparked this exchange, there are solutions to Puerto Rico’s problems with the coqui, I know they just put aside 200 acres as a sanctuary for one species and the Central Florida Zoo has opened a coqui exhibit http://www.aza.org/Publications/2007/01/exhibits.pdf
raising the awareness of the worldwide decline of the frog.
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June 8th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
When I visited PR in the ’80s, I was told by native guides that the kookee frog could only live on that island. They had tried to transplant the frog to other islands without success. Was I missinformed, or has cimate change caused this to happen. Anyone know?
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June 25th, 2008 at 12:22 am
You can push and pull all you want. The Coqui will become part of Hawaii forever. They’re not going anywhere and your kids will grow to love them. Ten years from now all those efforts to eradicate them will be a shameful page in the history of Hawaii. Your grandson will ask you why you were so mean and all your scientific rhetoric will mean nothing to them. The Coqui was design by God to leave on Earth. Point blank. You have no right or jurisdiction over that. There’s always a more feasible solution: why don’t YOU leave the Islands? You are the smart one with the bigger brain. It is not the Coqui’s fault that it ended up in Hawaii. So, relax. It is not a tragedy. Save your guns and energy for something really meaningful, they’re bigger problems to solve in Hawaii than fighting a two inches singing frog!
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June 26th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
José,
Looking forward to the responses to your comment. After the fireworks last month, I suppose some one will provide additional data on the negative impacts of this diminutive singing frog.
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