There ’s something strange give-up the ghost on near Lake Titicaca with its scrotum batrachian ( and it did n’t happen on April 1 ) .
At least 10,000 of these rich , wrinkly , and very rare salientian have mysteriously died in Peru . 1000 of the frog were distinguish floating in the river Coata by members of the Committee Against the Pollution of the Coata River . The river flows into Lake Titicaca , the highest navigable lake in the macrocosm , which straddles the boundary line between Peru and Bolivia .
Although this die - off fall out on the Peruvian side of the lake , similar events have also beenseen on the Bolivian side .
Sometimes referred to as the Titicaca Water Frog , the frog is only found in the pee in and around Lake Titicaca . TheIUCN Red Listdeclares this species as “ critically endangered ” and it ’s believed the highly split populations are all in decline .
They experience their nickname “ Titicaca scrotum frog ” from their characteristic skin folds . They might make them look empty-headed , but they ’re actually a extremely specialized version . The frogs areeffectively able to removeoxygen from waterthrough theirskin , so these folds really help to increase this amount by increase the surface area .
The Committee Against the Pollution of the Coata River argues that the destruction were cause by uncurbed defilement , which hasbeen cover onfor several years , include a previous spate of frog mass - dying , but remained overlooked by the authorisation . Last workweek , it became gruelling to ignore , with protester bringing 100 of the dead batrachian to the nearby Puno city square in protest .
“ I ’ve had to add them the dead toad . The authority do n’t realize how we ’re survive , ” protest leader Maruja Inquilla toldAFP . " They have no idea how major the pollution is . The billet is maddening . "
The Titicaca Water Frog ( Telmatobius culeus ) seen here in Bolivia . Arturo Muñoz / Bolivian Amphibian Initiative
Peru ’s National Forestry and Wildlife Service ( SERFOR ) has releaseda statementthat says they ’re now valuate the situation and prepare to found an investigation .
The program line said that in a sampling point of about 200 meter ( 660 animal foot ) , 500 numb specimens were notice . It added , “ It is trust that more than 10,000 frogs were affected over about 50 kilometre ( 30 miles ) . ”
verbalize to IFLScience , Arturo Muñoz of the Bolivian Amphibian Initiative explained what was behind old slew - death in Bolivia between May and April 2015 .
" We found sulfide level were very high in the lake , " Muñoz told IFLScience . He added that heavy rains and potent winding could have free sulphide from the bottom of the lakes and rivers , which afterwards might have killed the frogs .
" In December 2014 , there was a blooming of algae that turned the water in that area completely green . The bloom of youth of the alga also causes an instability in all water parameters , [ sic ] such as oxygen degree … In other word of honor , water with no oxygen , and the fish and frogs die .
" We think that these two main aspect were the cause for the massive deaths , " he concluded .
