A series of photography trips has left one of the world’s most visually spectacular frogs in peril. The rare galaxy frog (Melanobatrachus indicus), named because it looks like the cosmos on legs, is disappearing from India’s Western Ghats, with unregulated photography trips being named as the key culprit.
Researchers have reported that several of the small, fragile amphibians, which have pale blue speckles and vibrant orange patterns on their skin, were handled by photographers without gloves, putting the frogs at risk of stress and disease. Surrounding vegetation had been trampled and logs overturned, likely destroying the delicate microhabitat critical for their survival.
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In 2020 a research team in India’s Western Ghats found up that up to seven galaxy frogs were living beneath logs on the forest floor. However, during subsequent site visits in 2021 and 2022, the researchers found damaged habitat and no sign of the frogs.
Photography tourism, while generating vital income and support for conservation efforts, has to be carried out in a regulated fashion causing minimum impact to the subject, the study from global conservation charity Zoological Society of London (ZSL) says. This includes restricting the capture and handling of animals, limiting the use of high-intensity lights and avoiding habitat disturbance.
An anonymous informant reported that several groups of photographers visited the area where the galaxy frogs had been discovered between June 2020 and April 2021. They reported that in addition to turning over the logs, the flash setting was used during photography risking dehydration and stress to the frogs. Multiple photographers allegedly handled each frog without gloves, increasing the chance of disease being passed on.
Rajkumar K P, lead author on the paper, which was published in Herpetology Notes, said: “This sad event is a stark warning for the consequences of unregulated photography. While their colouring and rarity makes the galaxy frog a sought-out subject for photographers, it’s vital that those wishing to photograph these unique frogs don’t inadvertently contribute to their extinction – it would be a tragic irony if a drive to capture their likeness on camera today turned them into a thing of the past.”
The galaxy frog lives only in the lush forests of the southern Western Ghats – a mountain range running along India's western coast. Here, habitat loss from agriculture and tea and coffee plantations has already made them endangered. Protecting them requires careful management, ethical photography practices and awareness from both tourists and guides.
The study was undertaken for ZSL's EDGE of Existence programme. The programme helps ZSL’s mission to address the biodiversity crisis and build a world where people and nature can thrive. The galaxy frog is just one of many species it works to protect.
Learn more about frogs in the UK:
Main image: Galaxy frog in the Western Ghats, India. Image credit: Rajkumar K P
