[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 137 (Tuesday, July 19, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-17545]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: July 19, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
RIN 1018-AB66
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reopening of
Comment Period on Proposed Threatened Status for the Goliath Frog
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of reopening of comment period.
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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces that
additional information received during the comment period on the
proposed rule to list the goliath frog (Conraua goliath) as threatened
leaves questions as to whether the listing is warranted. The Service
has therefore reopened the comment period through October 17, 1994, on
the proposed action to list the goliath frog as threatened. Information
received indicated that the species has a slightly wider distribution,
occurs in a wider range of aquatic habitats, and may be more abundant
than believed at the time that the proposed rule was issued. In
addition, local utilization and international trade appears to be less
of a threat to the species. Additional information on each of these
considerations is sought. Furthermore, there remains the concern about
the effect of the unquantified and undescribed effect of loss of
rainforest habitat on goliath frog populations, and the projections for
additional habitat loss. Information is also sought of these issues, as
well as any population estimates or surveys.
DATES: The comment period, which originally closed on November 12,
1991, now closes October 17, 1994.
ADDRESSES: Comments, information, and questions should be sent to the
Chief, Office of Scientific Authority; Mail Stop: Arlington Square,
room 725; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Washington, DC. 20240. (Fax
number 703-358-2276). Express and messenger-delivered mail should be
addressed to the Office of Scientific Authority, room 750, 4401 North
Fairfax Drive, Arlington, Virginia 22203. Comments and other
information received will be available for public inspection, by
appointment, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, at the
Arlington, Virginia address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dr. Charles W. Dane, Chief, Office of Scientific Authority, at the
above address (phone 703-358-1708).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The goliath frog (Conraua goliath) of Central Africa, reaches a
recorded weight of up to 7.2 pounds (3.3 kilograms), a head and body
length of 12.6 inches (320 millimeters), and a total length, including
the hind leg and foot of about 32 inches (813 millimeters); there have
been reports of even larger individuals (Sabater-Pi 1985; Zahl 1967).
However, this giant amphibian has a relatively small range. It occurs
along major rivers in dense rainforest within an area of about 10,000
square miles (26,000 square kilometers) in Equatorial Guinea, Gabon,
and southwestern Cameroon.
In a petition dated April 9, 1991, the Service was requested to add
the goliath frog to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. The
petition was submitted by Dr. Cristina M. Richards (Biology Department,
Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48202) and Dr. Victor H.
Hutchison (Department of Zoology, University of Oklahoma, Norman,
Oklahoma 73069). It was accompanied by data on the biology of the
goliath frog, and pointed out such concerns as slow maturation, rarity,
restricted distribution, habitat destruction, local hunting,
international trade, high price for living specimens, and poor
adaptation to captivity.
Section 4(b)(3) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 as amended
(Act) requires two findings with respect to a petition to list a
species. To the maximum extent practical, within 90 days of receipt, a
finding must be made on whether the petition presents substantial
information indicating that the requested action may be warranted; and
if it is determined that the petition presents such information, the
Service usually announces this finding and initiates a status review
seeking additional information on the status of the species, Then,
within 12 months of receipt of the petition, the Service must make a
finding as to whether the action is warranted, not warranted, or
warranted but precluded by other listing activity.
The Service examined the data submitted by the petitioners and
consulted other authorities. It also learned that the goliath frog is
classified as vulnerable by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). This
review led the Service to make both of the required findings,
determining that the requested action was warranted. These findings
were incorporated in a proposal to list the goliath frog as a
threatened species, which was published in the Federal Register of
September 12, 1991 (56 FR 46397).
Concurrently with the petition submitted under the Act, the Service
received a request to propose the listing of the goliath frog in
Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in response to a February 7,
1991, Federal Register notice (56 FR 4965). The Service requested
comments on this proposal in the July 24, 1991, Federal Register (56 FR
33894). After reviewing the information received, the Service submitted
a proposal to include the species in Appendix II on October 4, 1991, in
order to fully consider information that might become available before
or at the Eighth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES,
which was held March 2-13, 1992, in Kyoto, Japan. That proposal was
withdrawn at the CITES meeting.
The information received in response to the request for comments
contained in the proposed rule, as well as the comments received at the
CITES meeting, left questions as to whether listing under the Act is
warranted. Consequently, a final decision has yet to be announced.
Additional Information Received
The range of the goliath frog is at least somewhat larger than
presented in the proposed rule. The original petitioners have indicated
that the species does occur in a small part of Gabon. The species does
not appear to be limited to areas of cascades and rapids, but appears
to be found in broad rivers and deep streams. However, there remains a
question of whether these river/streams must be well oxygenated and
whether the species also occurs in slightly brackish water. There is
concern that the ``frog's habitat is being destroyed to open land for
cultivation and provide firewood'' (Amiet, pers. comm.), but the loss
of habitat has not been quantified and establishment of protected areas
may have stabilized any population decline.
The species may not be as rare as was thought, and it appears that
the species may be readily found in small numbers by knowledgeable
persons. However, no population estimates or surveys are known. Local
utilization may not be as much of a threat as was originally reported.
Although the frog may be utilized for food when encountered in
Cameroon, it is reported that Gabonese do not eat frogs in general or
use them for traditional medical or religious reasons and that the
goliath frog is not the object of much trade (Gabon's Director of
Wildlife per 10/22/91 cable). Furthermore, relatively little is known
about the reproductive biology of this species; the suggested slow
maturation is based only on the large size of fully grown individuals.
Without information on the reproductive biology and productivity, one
cannot calculate sustainable utilization rates, although this might be
inferred from other information.
The threat of international trade appears to be less than believed
when the proposed rule was published. In response to the proposal by
the United States to include the goliath frog in Appendix II, a report
(Brautigam, 1992) cited two negative responses to the Service's
proposal to list the goliath frog as threatened under the Act plus
comments from one of the same respondents but addressing the CITES
Appendix II proposal. This review also noted that the Government of
Cameroon reportedly prohibits the export of the species for the pet
trade. Based on the information presented in the U.S. proposal and the
new information, the CITES Secretariat recommended rejection of the
U.S. proposal stating that the species does not seem to be threatened
by international trade. TRAFFIC International also recommended
rejection of the proposal, but stated that such a listing could serve
as a monitoring tool to gather trade data (Report on Recommendations on
Proposals to Amend the CITES Appendices at the Eighth Meeting of the
Conference of the Parties, TRAFFIC, March 1992).
The exact number of individuals exported is unknown but most
reports suggest a figure in the hundreds during the 1980s. Most of the
international trade was presumed to be to the United States. The
reported ban on exportation from Cameroon apparently has not been fully
successful. Service records indicate that at least 78 individuals were
exported from Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon to the United States in
1992 and 1993, with only six of these being imported in 1993, one as
recently as October 21, 1993. Recent information on other international
trade is lacking.
A consensus among correspondents is that it is possible to
successfully transport and maintain the goliath frog, and that some
individuals have survived for months or years in captivity, but that
such efforts involve considerable effort and diligence and that many
have been lost. Furthermore, no one as reported successful breeding of
this species in captivity. Advertisements submitted by the petitioners
showed that the asking price in early 1990 was $599.00 for ``small''
specimens and $2,500.00 for individuals weighing 6-9 pounds. In July
1992, a zoo purchased six frogs from an importer at $1,200.00 each.
After a recent inquiry it was suggested that the price might be between
$1,500.00 and $1,800.00, but this was qualified by the statement that
nobody was buying this species.
Public Comments Solicited
The Service intends that any final decision on the proposed rule
will accurately reflect the status of the species and will be based on
the best available scientific and commercial information. Therefore,
comments and suggestions concerning any aspect of this proposed rule
are hereby solicited from the public, concerned governmental agencies,
the scientific community, industry, private interests, and other
parties. Information is sought on the following listing criteria
described in the Act:
(1) The present or threatened destruction, modification, or
curtailment of this species' habitat or its range,
(2) Any overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific,
or education purposes;
(3) Disease factors or natural predation that may threaten this
species;
(4) Any inadequacies of existing regulatory mechanisms; and
(5) Other natural or manmade factors affecting this species'
continued existence.
The Service is particularly interested in the following
information:
(1) Information on habitat requirements, distribution of that
habitat, and threats to that habitat, as well as documentation of past
or future habitat losses and threats to that habitat throughout the
range of the goliath frog; and in particular quantification of the loss
of rainforest in the species' range, and information on the
displacement or extirpation of the species when rainforest along river
habitat of the species is opened for cultivation.
(2) Information as to any known population estimates or surveys of
this species;
(3) Further information on local utilization of this species;
(4) Any information on the reproductive biology of this species,
especially as it may be related to its ability to sustain harvest;
(5) Information as to the extent of commercial trade in this
species, especially information on international trade other than
imports into the United States;
(6) Information as to current ability to transport and maintain
this species in captivity; and
(7) Information as to current ability to reproduce this species in
captivity.
Literature Cited
Brautigam, A. 1992. Analyses of proposals to amend the CITES
Appendices. Prepared by IUCN Species Survival Commission Trade
Specialist Group, TRAFFIC, and World Conservation Monitoring Center.
Submitted to the Eighth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties,
Kyoto, Japan. IUCN--the World Conservation Union.
Sabater-Pi, J. 1985. Contribution to the biology of the giant frog
(Conraua goliath, Boulenger). Amphibia-Reptilia 6:143-153.
Zahl, P.A. 1967. In quest of the world's largest frog. Natl. Geogr.
134: 446-452.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531-1544.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 17
Endangered and threatened species, Exports, Imports, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.
Dated: July 14, 1994.
Mollie H. Beattie,
Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 94-17545 Filed 7-15-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-M