Banded Bull Frog (Kaohsiung)

English Name: Banded Bull Frog, Chubby Frog, Asian Painted Frog
Scientific Name: Kaloula pulchra
Chinese Name: 花狹口蛙 (Hua Xiakouwa)
Chinese Meaning: "Flowered Narrow-Mouthed Frog"

Date: July 13, 2009

Location: Park by Jiahong Rd., Nanzih District, Kaohsiung City
Coordinates:  22°43'4.42" N, 120°17'42.53" E

This frog is actually native to Southeast Asia, and was introduced into Taiwan in the last ten years or so, probably through the pet trade - it's popular in pet stores, where it's known in English as the "Chubby Frog". The first picture shows one that I found hopping around on the ground. I think it might be a juvenile, because it seemed a little smaller than the others I saw.

When it's time to mate, the males puff themselves up like balloons and float in pools of water while making loud croaking noises. I found a bunch of them hanging out in the drains in this little park in the suburbs of Kaohsiung (that's what you see in the second photo). Their call is really loud, and sounds somewhere between a cow and Chewbacca from Star Wars. And when they make the sound, their throats bulge out into a big bubble, like this:

There are about 32 species of frogs and toads in Taiwan, and nearly 5,000 worldwide. About a third of the world's frog species are believed to be endangered by habitat destruction, pollution, climate change, and other threats. However, the Banded Bull Frog is not believed to be in danger - in fact, in recent times it has been colonizing more and more countries in Asia, even reaching as far as Australia and New Zealand. Individual frogs of this species are known to live for up to 10 years.

There's a lot of good information about Taiwan's frogs online, but most of it's in Chinese. However, there's a great English-language site called Frogmosa, with a really nice interface, and information about all the different species.