20 amphibian species ‘critically endangered’

PANAJI: The Zoological Survey of India has posted an updated checklist of Indian amphibians on its website, listing 20 species as critically endangered and 35 as ‘endangered’, an official said on Sunday.
The 20 ‘critically endangered’ amphibians include some species of frogs found in the Western Ghats of Kerala, Maharashtra and Karnataka and in some hills of the North East, he said. The number of amphibian species recorded in the comprehensive checklist, uploaded on the Zoological Survey of India’s (ZSI) website on Friday, has gone up from 284 in 2009 to 447 now, Goa-based environmentalist Nirmal U Kulkarni, who was part of the checklist updation exercise, said.
“Among the amphibians listed, 20 species are ‘critically endangered’ and 35 species ‘endangered’, he said. These include Raorchestes resplendens, a shrubfrog found in the high-altitude region around the south Indian peak of Anamudi in Kerala, Raorchestes kaikatti, also known as the Kaikatti bush frog found only in the Nelliyampathy hills in the Western Ghats of Kerala and Raorchestes shillongensis species found in Shillong. (PTI)