PHOTOS: Frogs intercepted at OR Tambo airport
A total of 230 frogs, confiscated at the OR Tambo International Airport as they were about to be flown to Taiwan, were undergoing health checks at the National Zoo in Pretoria on Thursday.
Animal collections manager at the zoo, Tracy Rehse, said the animals were handed to the animal sanctuary by the department of environmental affairs.
“We received 80 bullfrogs. When many think of a bullfrog, they think of the big frogs. These will get there, but at the moment they are about the size of a 50 cent coin,” said Rehse.
“We also received 150 rain frogs. Unfortunately 10 were dead. We have 140 now that are alive. We will be transporting the frogs into bigger containers throughout the day.”
The frogs were individually packed in small plastic containers with yellow and red lids. The containers had water-like fluid inside and a small hole in the lid.
However, Rehse said some of the containers didn’t have lids and it may have led to the death of the ten frogs.
(Photos: National Zoo of SA)
The frogs were about to be flown to Taiwan. Rehse said there was a problem with the export permit which resulted in the trip being cancelled.
“We are still waiting to hear what we will have to do with them. We are trying to get them released. We have to perform checks first to see if they don’t have diseases. The diseases can be transferred to a wild population if we release them,” she said.
“If they can’t be released back to the owner or exporter, then we will have to distribute them to other zoos and other aquaria in the country.”
Spokesperson for the zoo, Craig Allenby, took journalists on a tour of the facility which houses numerous species of animals and is a popular tourist destination in Gauteng. - ANA
(File photo: Gallo Images)