How a new campaign hopes to get illicit delicacy frog legs off Goa's restaurant menus
(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today issue dated June 23, 2025)In 2020, Goa's Republic Day tableau on Rajpath had a giant green frog strumming a guitar. Back home, though, they often land on a plate. 'Jumping Chicken', they call it, for the benefit of meat lovers indulging in it on the sly. Up the chain from restaurants that serve it are poachers who track frogs when they surface during the rains, their breeding season. The most hunted species are the Indian Bullfrog and the Jerdon's Bullfrog. Both have fleshy hindlegs, the part that's curried or fried.advertisementWhat the frogs themselves eat is quite crucial. Adults and tadpoles feed on mosquito eggs and larvae, exerting a natural control on vector-borne diseases. Besides, they devour a whole variety of insects deemed farm pests, ensuring lower crop losses. Thus, frog poaching impinges on the ecology, public health, agriculture and food security. It also violates the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Frogs are protected species—hunting them can lead you to getting fried in jail for three years.Goa is now trying to get frog meat off restaurant menus. In May, state forests minister Vishwajit Rane launched a 'Save the Frog' campaign, aiming to protect their monsoon habitats. 'The hunters track down the Bullfrog at night by its croak, using torch light to stun them,' says a forest official. While it's an age-old practice in many parts of Goa, the rising commercial demand for frog meat has started seriously skewing the numbers.advertisement
Frogs, a barometer of ecological health in zones along the Western Ghats, also face threats from urbanisation, deforestation and linear projects like highways. Activist Clinton Vaz says awareness is getting the 'jumping chicken' off menus, but that's only a start.Subscribe to India Today MagazineTrending Reel
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