Introduction
The inaugural Save The Frogs Day took place on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009, making Save The Frogs Day the world’s oldest annually observed amphibian conservation themed event.
Save The Frogs Day currently takes place April 28th Every Year…but that was not always the case. For many years, the event was held annually on the Last Saturday Of April (read about the choice of dates here).
Save The Frogs Day has been so successful that it has inspired other annually observed events that seek to raise amphibian awareness, including World Frog Day, World Salamander Day, Amphibian Week and Salamander Saturday.
This article discusses how the Save The Frogs Day event dates were chosen and clarifies the historical record related to annually observed amphibian celebrations.
Proof of Save The Frogs Day’s History
This archived webpage dated May 5th, 2009 on Archive.org provides a permanent snapshot of the SAVE THE FROGS! website as it existed immediately after the inaugural Save The Frogs Day. You can read about Save The Frogs Day on this Edge Of Existence webpage published March 17th, 2009.
Since 2009, Save The Frogs Day has been officially recognized by the governors and state legislatures of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, as well as the Mayors of Washington DC, Vancouver, Santa Cruz and Tampa, and an array of other frog-friendly politicians. View numerous Save The Frogs Day proclamations here.
If you can find any annually observed amphibian conservation event that is older than Save The Frogs Day, please contact us! We love historical information based on facts.
A Brief History of Save The Frogs Day
This YouTube video features SAVE THE FROGS! Founder Dr. Kerry Kriger discussing the most important Save The Frogs Day events that had taken place up to the time of its recording on the 6th Annual Save The Frogs Day (April 26th, 2014).
Dr. Kriger conceived Save The Frogs Day one cold December night in Budapest, Hungary in 2008, and has coordinated the worldwide Save The Frogs Day events ever since. In this video, he provides an insightful overview of Save The Frogs Day, its purpose, historical events, and the significant growth of the movement since its inception in 2009.
The webinar highlights various global events, educational initiatives, and extensive community engagement aimed at amphibian conservation. The session concludes with future plans and a call to action for increased participation and support for upcoming Save The Frogs Day events, underscoring the continued need for community involvement and financial support to further amphibian conservation efforts globally.
Save The Frogs Day Grants
The success of Save The Frogs Day led to the creation of the Save The Frogs Day Grants program, which has provided over $58,570 in event funding to over 70 amphibian conservationists in 20 countries since 2011. Grantees represent Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Congo (DRC), Estonia, France, Ghana, India, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Tanzania, and the USA.
Our youngest ever SAVE THE FROGS! Grantee, Avalon Theisen, holding one of her many Save The Frogs Day events in Florida, Save The Frogs Day 2011.
Other Annual Amphibian Celebrations
Note that there are other annual amphibian celebrations (almost certainly inspired by the success of Save The Frogs Day) that have been created in recent years, after the advent of Save The Frogs Day, the most relevant being:
(1) World Frog Day (March 20th, read its history here); and
(2) Amphibian Week (the first full week of May beginning on a Sunday, every year since 2020 in its current form, but actually started by a SAVE THE FROGS! Mexico volunteer in 2011).
A similar sounding day with a very different purpose is American Frog Day, begun in 1995 as a way to connect buyers and sellers of Dendrobatid frogs.
Furthermore, since COVID, an array of erroneous social media posts have been published using cool, but incorrect names for Save The Frogs Day, including National Frog Day, Frog Awareness Day, International Day Of Amphibian Conservation (Día Internacional para Conservation de Anfibios), Día Mundial de las Ranas, etc., especially in Spanish and Portuguese social media posts.
While well-intentioned, these posts contribute to confusion; as such, we encourage you to politely correct anyone posting near the end of April using names other than Save The Frogs Day. Alternatively, simply tag @savethefrogs in the comments section of their post, which helps their followers find SAVE THE FROGS! and enables us to reach out to the person or organization requesting their assistance in correcting their post.
Save The Frogs Day 2014 celebrations organized by Dr. Izabela Barata in Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Perplexity Says…
Below you can see the results of our Perplexity thread on the topic of Save The Frogs Day’s history:
Conclusion
We thank you for your participation and interest in Save The Frogs Day, and hope you have a fabulous time on April 28th Every Year!
Save The Frogs Day 2014 in the mountains above Santa Marta, Colombia with students of Beto Rueda.
Paul from North Shore Wetland Partners educating kids about amphibians, Save The Frogs Day 2014. “The SAVE THE FROGS! flag flew proudly in west Vancouver this weekend.”
The photo atop this page is from Bangladesh, Sabit Hasan’s submission to the 2023 SAVE THE FROGS! Photo Contest.
