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Got Coquis? Let's Promote Coqui Hawaii Ecotourism!

 

LET'S PROMOTE
Coqui Hawaii Ecotourism!

Coqui frogs are loved by people all over the world -- and they, along with many other kinds of frogs, are disappearing worldwide. The environment of Hawaii can provide a crucial refuge and sanctuary for them, while at the same time attracting ecotourism dollars!

People in other places (most notably in Puerto Rico, the ancestral coqui homeland) love the coqui so much, numerous coqui products -- including a chirping toy coqui, and coqui ringtones for cellphones! -- are created and sold. Many people even buy audio CDs of coqui serenades, which they play to help themselves sleep! And, even in Puerto Rico, 2 species of coquis are already extinct....

HERE'S a bit of a mystery: though this article (left) appeared in August of 2005, it seems to have received little attention; the same, false arguments -- debunked by the scientific study cited in the article -- continue to be vociferously spread; and, since October of 2006, the article itself has disappeared from the newspaper's website....

~ excerpts from:
The Honolulu Advertiser - August 28, 2005 ~

Study says coqui isn't ecological scourge

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Staff Writer

The article is based on research by William C. Pitt, a researcher with the National Wildlife Research Center Hilo Field Station, and Utah State University scientist Karen H. Beard. Pitt and beard wrote a scientific study, "Potential consequences of the coqui frog invasion in Hawai'i", published in the scientific journal Diversity and Distributions.

One of the fears most expressed about the coqui here is that its spread might lead to an acceleration of the loss of Hawai'i's endangered forest birds. The theory is that the growing population would compete with the birds for insect prey.

But Pitt and Beard found that, at least for now, there is little overlap between the low-elevation habitats occupied by the frogs and the higher-elevation range of the birds.

Although coquis may make bird "reinvasion" into lowland ecosystems more difficult, they might also serve as an additional food source for some endemic birds, the study said.

Another big fear has been the possibility the coqui would reduce the abundance of Hawai'i's endemic insects, spiders and other bugs. However, data suggest that coquis are consuming mostly non-native bugs. ....

Some have also predicted the coquis would serve as a food source to help bolster populations of rats and mongooses, which are predators of endemic birds. But preliminary data suggest that coquis will not be a food source that will result in a rise in rat or mongoose populations.

~ www.hawaiiancoqui.org ~