American Bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus)

Several million non-native American Bullfrogs are imported into California each year for use in the food, pet and dissection trades. Bullfrogs are native to eastern North America, but have established populations throughout the western USA, where they cause massive ecological damage due to their voracious appetites for native wildlife; their propensity to spread deadly diseases; and their role as competitors with native amphibians for limited food resources. Bullfrogs are listed on the IUCN’s list of 100 worst invasive species

SAVE THE FROGS! supports a ban on the importation, sale, release and possession of American Bullfrogs into and within areas to which they do not belong, i.e. anywhere outside eastern North America. SAVE THE FROGS! requests that teachers and pet seekers not purchase American Bullfrogs or their tadpoles, as either you or the biological supplier has a high chance of being located outside the frogs’ native range.

The American Bullfrog is a harmful non-native invasive species in California that spreads disease and eats native wildlife. The frogs are imported into the state by the millions and cause huge ecological damage to the state’s wildlife and ecosystems.

SAVE THE FROGS! and other stakeholders have been working on changing the State’s policies on bullfrog importation for over a decade and have successfully gotten regulations in place in the City and County of Santa Cruz, CA. SAVE THE FROGS! Executive Director Dr. Kerry Kriger and Biologist Chris Berry have met with California Resources Agency and DFW management, consulted with legislators and other conservation organizations, conducted market and legal research, collected petition signatures and authored draft legislation that would ban the importation of live American bullfrogs in the State of California.

Help us make California the frog-friendliest state in the union. Please e-mail the CA Fish & Game Commission today at fgc@fgc.ca.gov and urge them to place a complete ban on the importation of live American Bullfrogs!

While this issue is relatively straightforward from an ecological perspective, the politics of this issue surrounding cultural traditions and the pet trade are sufficiently complex that progress on meaningful policy change on a statewide level has been very slow. Take advantage of your opportunity to be heard and help us advance this cause. Attend commission meetings and let politicians know that you support protecting the Golden State’s great native biota…and that you want the importation of live American bullfrogs into the State of California stopped.