United States: Utah encourages its inhabitants to eat bullfrogs

Faced with the proliferation of this species of frog, the authorities of Utah have recommended to the inhabitants to catch them to cook them.

By Nicolas Barreiro for Le Point

IWould the best way to fight an invasive species be to eat it? Here is the recommendation from the Utah Department of Natural Resources, USA, which used National Invasive Species Awareness Week to shed some light on the bullfrog. On February 23, on social networks, this authority responsible for regulating the fauna and flora of the State invited the inhabitants to “catch as many as they wish”, reports BFMTV, because “they are tasty”.

This species of frog poses a threat to Utah’s biodiversity. Particularly voracious, it eats almost everything that passes in front of it: mice, snakes, fish and even other frogs, explains a member of the Utah Department of Natural Resources to Fox Weather. Bullfrogs, often green or brown, have the particularity of having brown spots and circular eardrums. They can weigh up to 600 grams.READ ALSOThe Etang de Thau, fragile sanctuary of an astonishing marine mollusk

A species present in France

This invasive species is also present on French territory. It was imported from America “voluntarily” in 1968, according to the Invasive Alien Species Resource Center website. These frogs were placed in an ornamental pond in Gironde, but were also introduced in Sologne. They were only discovered there in 2002. Bullfrogs have been classified as invasive alien species in France, along with raccoons, gray squirrels and catfish.