Posted on: Friday, January 3, 2003
'CHIRP' mission: Repatriate noisy frogs
By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Island Editor
Those chirping coqui tree frogs that have become a nighttime nuisance in many Island neighborhoods could be sent packing back to the Caribbean under a frog "repatriation" plan proposed by a Big Island man who has criticized state actions to eradicate the alien species.
It may not make a dent in the frog numbers here, but it could slow their spread and provide a "humane option" to people who are squeamish about killing the animals, said Sydney Singer of Pahoa, who heads the Coqui Hawaiian Integration and Reeducation (CHIRP) Project.
The state Department of Agriculture has been spraying citric acid at Puna's Lava Tree State Park to control the noisy coquis, which first arrived in Hawai'i around 1988 in plants or plant materials shipped from Florida or Puerto Rico. The amphibians, which are about the size of a quarter, quickly spread around the state hidden in landscaping plants.
Citric acid was used years ago to successfully curb an invasion of Cuban tree frogs, said Lyle Wong, administrator of the state Plant Industry Division. Wong has talked with Singer about his plan and said he has no problem with sending the frogs back to Puerto Rico and other islands in the Caribbean, as long as they don't carry disease and parasites with them, creating environmental problems for those countries.
Singer said yesterday he had just gotten approval from the Department of Land and Natural Resources to export the animals and is contacting officials overseas to make arrangements for the frogs' return.
In their native range, coqui can reach densities of 8,100 frogs per acre. Officials here say the creatures have exceeded that density in some areas on the Big Island. The coqui are considered an ecological threat because they could deplete the numbers of native insects and rare snails, and compete for food with native birds.
Officials also report a growing number of complaints from residents and visitors about the piercing noise made by male coqui frogs.
