Mysterious Death of 10,000 Titicaca Scrotum Frog in Peru Investigated

The Technical Forestry and Wildlife Management (ATFFS) Puno, decentralized office of the National Forest Service and Wildlife (SERFOR) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MINAGRI), took immediate action after receiving an alert about the death of Titicaca Scrotum Frogs. This body of water flows into Peru’s Lake Titicaca, in the bay of Chucuito, in the north of the city of Puno.

Specialists assessed the dead specimens along the river in the buffer zone of the Titicaca National Reserve. They toured two sample locations in which dead specimens could be found on both banks of the river, in the Jaruna and Islapata sector, Coata district.

The inspection also included representatives of the town and of the National Police of Peru (Commissioner Hauta). In the first sampling point the deaths of about 500 frogs were found in a strip of 200 meters.

Based on the statements of the villagers and those who found the dead frogs days after the incident, it would be about 10,000 frogs affected by a distance of about 50 kilometers from the Ccacachi bridge to the mouth of Lake Titicaca. Initial evaluation noted the presence of solid waste and sludge formation in the area.

The samples obtained by the ATFFS Puno, in coordination with specialists Elias and Roberto Enrique Ramos Denver Zoo, will be evaluated to determine the death of the specimens and further investigate the mysterious death of the Titicaca Scrotum Frogs.