We are very pleased to announce that the winner of the 2010 SAVE THE FROGS! Essay Contest winner is Josèphe-Anne Rocke, 19, of Verdun, Quebec, Canada! Josèphe-Anne’s essay rose to the top of 45 essays submitted to us by writers from India, Cameroon, Canada, Ghana, Pakistan, Vietnam and the USA.
A World Without Frogs
by Josèphe-Anne Rocke
Show anyone a poison dart frog and even those least appreciative of nature will admit it’s pretty. Then, tell them the species is threatened with extinction and they’ll probably be surprised. I doubt there’s anyone over the age of 3 who doesn’t know what a frog is. They are almost as familiar to us as cats and dogs. Just look around, and you’ll find traces of the amphibian’s popularity. Now, think for a moment about how life would be without them. At first, you might think it wouldn’t affect you (unless you’re a herpetologist), but think again. Amphibian extinction would affect everyone.
You think there are too many flies at your picnic? There would be even more without frogs around. Like seafood? Well, many game fish depend on tadpole populations to survive. No frogs means no fish. And as frogs live both on land and in water, their demise would be doubly catastrophic. The entire ecosystem would collapse!
Contemplating the creatures’ predicament forces us to question ourselves. Frogs are tenacious survivors. If they – with their special skin and unusual ways – are struggling to stay alive in a changing environment, then what about the rest of us? How many frogs have to disappear before we take this seriously? There is a blow to the Earth each time a species is lost. After all is said and done, it comes down to this: a world without frogs would be a world less beautiful, a world less diverse. A world without frogs would be a world incomplete.
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Josèphe-Anne is also an excellent artist, and was a prize winner and honorable mention in the 2009 SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest. Her art is above and below…
