[Anchor]

Hundreds of endangered gold-spotted pond frogs are dying en masse near Sejong Lake Park. Young frogs moving between their habitats fall onto roads and are unable to cross the roadside curbs, leading them to dry up and die. While this problem has repeated for three years, proper management has not been implemented because the habitat is private land.

Here is a report by Kim Jihun from TJB.

[Reporter]

A road near Sejong Lake Park.

A dead, dried-up gold-spotted pond frog is left unattended in front of a roadside curb.

Another frog struggles desperately to climb over the curb, and signs of frogs being hit and killed by vehicles are visible across the road.

Dead frogs began to be found here about three years ago.

It is estimated that as they move between habitats at night, they fall onto the road, get trapped because they cannot clear the curbs, and ultimately dry up and die in the summer heat.

The height of this roadside curb is approximately 15 centimeters.

It is virtually impossible for baby gold-spotted pond frogs, which measure only about 0.5 to 1 centimeter, to leap over it without an eco-corridor.

Every summer, anywhere from dozens to hundreds of gold-spotted pond frogs die en masse here in the same manner.

[Moon Kwang-yeon / Board Member, The Herpetological Society of Korea: At times, I have seen up to 100 or 200 of them. They are supposed to be born in wetlands and return to wetlands, but seeing them die on completely hard roads or under curbs with no water at all breaks my heart....]

The nearby gold-spotted pond frog habitat is private land owned by a construction company.

As a result, it has been confirmed that the area is excluded from local government management and regular ecological surveys.

Gold-spotted pond frogs are designated as Level II endangered wild species, serving as intermediate consumers in the ecosystem that feed on insects while acting as prey for other animals.

If mass mortality continues to repeat, concerns are rising that it will negatively impact not only the food chain but also the entire surrounding ecosystem.

Experts point out that temporary fences should first be installed to prevent frogs from entering the road, along with eco-corridors so that frogs that do stray onto the road can return to their habitats.

Voices are also growing that the management system for endangered species habitats should be supplemented to enable practical protection regardless of whether the land is privately owned.

[Lee Soon-yeol / Member, Sejong City Council: We need to transition from discretionary provisions that merely state we can make efforts to preserve legally protected species into mandatory regulations....]

Active protective measures by administrative authorities are urgently needed to stop the mass deaths of endangered gold-spotted pond frogs that have persisted for three years.

(Video by Choi Woon-ki / TJB, Footage provided by Korea Ecological Restoration Association)

Kim Jihun, TJB