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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, September 28, 2001

Coqui frog foils eradication efforts on Big Island

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — A tiny Puerto Rican frog known as the coqui has become so plentiful on the Big Island that efforts to eradicate it may have to be abandoned.

As many as 10,000 coqui frogs occupy a single acre on the Big Island.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

That was the announcement yesterday by Lyle Wong, plant industry administrator for the state Department of Agriculture, during a presentation to the Hawai'i County Council.

While federal regulators still are evaluating plans to use a potent caffeine solution to thin the numbers of the noisy frog, Wong said the eradication efforts will be directed at O'ahu and Kaua'i, where there is a better chance for containment.

The frogs — about the size of a dime but with a chirp that pierces the night soundscape at up to 90 decibels — infest 226 Big Island sites vs. just 11 in 1998.

As many as 10,000 coqui occupy a single acre, and the creatures have been found as far upslope as Volcano, where scientists thought the frogs could not survive because of the 4,000-foot elevation.

Maui has identified 41 coqui infestations, and there are 21 on Kaua'i and 20 on O'ahu.

The council's Economic Development Committee also heard from Puna resident Sydney Singer, who has launched a campaign to fight eradication efforts. Singer said the frogs should be welcomed because they feed on mosquitoes, termites and other pests. He also has questioned whether the caffeine solution could have detrimental effects on the environment that haven't been considered.

The coqui arrived in Hawai'i in imported potted plants and other materials.

"Their spread can be substantially reduced if all growers take the time to eliminate all frogs from their plants before sale," Wong said.

He said that capturing all the frogs by hand is "impossible" and that traps are ineffective.