In Western Ghats under rotting logs, a predatory camera & the disappearing frogs

Sometimes, it’s good if no one hears a tree fall in the forest and better still if the rotting log is left as is. In the Western Ghats in Kerala, under decaying wood, a unique concatenation of ecological circumstances provides the only known home for Melanobatrachus indicus or the Galaxy Frog. The tiny amphibian (0.8-1.4 inches long) is among the most stunning in the world and is named for the dazzling array of white spots on its jet black body. Unlike the frogs from fairy tales, it requires no assistance from princesses to be attractive, and it is this beauty, perhaps, that has led to a tragic fate.

According to a report published by researchers in Herpetology Notes, seven Galaxy Frogs — the species is vulnerable to extinction according to the IUCN — have disappeared in the last few years. The culprit is all but certain: Photographers rushed to the small patch of forest the frogs were known to live in. In their enthusiasm for the perfect image, tourists and amateurs overturned the logs under which they live and picked up the tiny creatures to place them against “better” backgrounds. In essence, they damaged the microhabitat that the tiny amphibian needs to survive. And by touching the creatures, made them all the more vulnerable. All seven are now presumed dead.

There is, perhaps, many a metaphor and larger lesson to be drawn from the disappearance of seven Galaxy Frogs about climate change, the anthropocene and the devastation human beings cause. But the mere facts of the case are sad enough. Bright colouration on animals, particularly non-mammals, is often meant to discourage predators, an advertisement that they are not edible. Nature, though, does not know of the hunger of the camera and the ravenous social media beast. It has now consumed seven tiny galaxies. Hopefully, there are some more out there, away from the predatory lens, under a rotting log.