Harlequin frogs are venomous and measure less than five centimeters.
Colombian authorities seized 130 poison frogs at Bogota airport on Monday and arrested the Brazilian woman who was carrying them. The woman was transporting colorful harlequin poison frogs (oophaga histrionica) in film containers while traveling to Sao Paulo with a stopover in Panama.
Bogotá’s Environment Minister Adriana Soto said in a video shared with media that she “claimed that the local community gave them as gifts.”
The venomous harlequin frog, which measures less than five centimeters (two inches), lives in moist forests along the Pacific coast between Ecuador and Colombia and in other countries in Central and South America.
“This endangered species is sought after on the international market,” said Bogota police commander Juan Carlos Arevalo, adding that private collectors may pay for each species. Prices of up to $1,000.
The woman carrying the frog was arrested for “wildlife tracking” and later turned over to the prosecutor’s office, police reports said.
Animal trafficking is common in Colombia, one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, especially of amphibians, small mammals and marine animal parts such as sharks.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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