The State of Frogs in India: A Case for Discontinuation of Use of Frogs in Dissections and Experiments

India has the pride of being one among the few mega-biodiversity countries of the world. Whereas its land area is limited to 2.4%, it has 7-8% of the total number of species so far recorded, of which about 45,500 species are plants and 91,000 species are animals. As reported in 2007, among the 5150 amphibian species recorded, 240 are present in India, which accounts for 4.66%. Unfortunately, the amphibians, which survived all the four mass extinctions since their origin, have been projected to be facing extinction at the global scale in the ongoing/envisaged sixth mass extinction. Many amphibians species have been declared in the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 as protected, and included in the different schedules reflecting different levels of threat. Frogs that are commonly used for dissection and experiments in India are included in Schedule IV of this Act. This means that holding of these frogs in captivity and/or use for any purpose including as delicacy without the permission from the local Chief Wild Life Warden is a punishable offence.