By AFP | 2024-10-30

NOCAIMA, Colombia -- Deep in Colombia’s forests, along a secluded dirt track, conservationists are breeding rare exotic frogs to combat wildlife traffickers and protect the country's endangered amphibians.

The critically endangered harlequin poison-dart frog (Oophaga histrionica) is one of 14 species bred for sale at the Tesoros de Colombia (Treasures of Colombia) laboratory near Bogotá.

This initiative is part of a global effort to combat illegal wildlife trafficking by providing legally bred, captive specimens.

The illegal trade in wild flora and fauna is the fourth most profitable illicit business in the world, with annual revenues of $23 billion, according to the United Nations (UN).

At the UN COP16 biodiversity conference, held from October 21 to November 1 in Cali, Colombia, delegates are exploring strategies to combat poaching in commodities from a range of species, from elephant ivory to pangolin scales.

In Colombia, which is home to about 10% of the world's amphibians, poison-dart frogs are captured alive in the Choco jungle and smuggled abroad to adorn foreign terrariums.

The venom causes collectors' frissons: the frogs secrete a toxin that can cause respiratory failure.

To tame the trafficking of these and other species, some countries have authorized a legal wildlife trade.

Costa Rica, another Latin American biodiversity hotspot, has licensed butterfly breeding schemes to try to protect its forest habitats.

"If there is an international demand for frogs, it is important to provide legal frogs that can also reproduce in (their new) home," Tesoros de Colombia founder Ivan Lozano said.

Frog 'passport'

In Colombia, frog trafficking is a serious crime, carrying penalties of 5 to nearly 12 years in prison. As the world's second-most biodiverse country after Brazil, Colombia enforces strict protections.

Tesoros de Colombia exports seven species of frog and is waiting on permits for seven others.

"When we export them, we operate on the basis that they are going to a better place," Alejandra Curubo, a veterinary technician, told AFP, proudly showing off one of her charges, which had just finished its metamorphosis from a tadpole.

Some amphibians from Colombia journeyed over 5,000km north to reach Michael Heinrichs' terrarium in Morrison, Colorado, the United States.

The 65-year-old collector, who works for a healthcare company, has amassed a collection of 40 specimens, including a poison-dart frog, which he keeps in a room he calls his "zen place."

Heinrichs paid up to $1,000 each for legally traded specimens that come with a unique code based on their spot patterns.

"Each owner gets a unique frog, with traceability," Lozano said.

The availability of legal amphibians has driven down prices for trafficked specimens.

The golden poison frog (Phyllobates terribilis) once sold for $150 but now has a list price of $40.

Noah's ark

Conservationists are divided on the merits of legalizing the wildlife trade.

Science magazine in its October 11 edition warned that legalizing the seemingly insatiable market for rhino horn, used in traditional medicine in Asia, "could increase demand... and complicate law enforcement's ability to distinguish legal sources from illegal sources."

It took Lozano years to obtain his first Colombian export permit.

Since he began exporting to the United States, "the market for the illegal trade of animals from Colombia has dried up," Heinrichs, his customer in Colorado, said.

"Today it would be really hard" to find Colombian frogs in the United States, he said.

Colombian police have also stepped up their efforts against traffickers.

In January, a woman was found with 130 dehydrated poisonous frogs stashed in film canisters in her luggage at á airport.

Lozano hopes to gradually release his frogs back into the wild once "international demand has decreased."

Warning that trafficking risked wiping out entire species, he said: "I hope we don't have to be a Noah's Ark."