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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, September 10, 2001

New group leaps into fray over destruction of Caribbean frogs

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Staff Writer

As Hawai'i conservation officials wage war against a growing population of shrieking Caribbean frogs, a new organization has joined the other side, hoping to make some noise of its own.

The Caribbean frog coqui is known for its loud call.

Advertiser library photo • March 23, 2001

CHIRP, or the Coqui Hawaiian Integration and Re-education Project, is the creation of the Big Island husband-and-wife team of Sydney Ross Singer and Soma Grismaijer, better known for their self-published research that linked cancer to bra wearing.

Singer and Grismaijer say CHIRP's mission is to counter the "propaganda'' of federal and state officials by creating acceptance for the coqui, a frog from Puerto Rico.

"People love them in Puerto Rico,'' Grismaijer said. "The coqui may prove to be a great thing for Hawai'i, too.''

Among activities planned by CHIRP is a benefit concert at the Big Island's Lava Tree State Park, home to perhaps the state's largest coqui population. "In the Caribbean, they are considered musical, not noisy. It all depends on your attitude,'' Singer said.

The couple are the latest to leap to the defense of the tiny coqui. Transplanted Puerto Ricans have been speaking out, and recently several politicians in Puerto Rico have been quoted protesting Hawai'i's eradication plans.

Although the frogs are revered in Puerto Rico, they've received nothing but scorn from Hawai'i conservation officials, who say they have the potential to become a serious pest in native forests, where they compete with Hawaiian birds for insects and threaten endemic insects and snails. There also have been numerous complaints about the noise.

But Singer and Grismaijer, who enjoy the chirps of the coqui on their land near Lava Tree State Park, argue the frog's environmental impact has been overstated.

"If these frogs were human, this would be racist. It's a hate campaign,'' Singer said.