ASSOCIATED PRESS
Two groups have filed suit to protect a threatened species of the coqui frog, shown here at the El Yunque rain forest in Caimito, Puerto Rico.
Groups sue to protect
coqui frogs in Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico >> Two environmental groups have filed suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect a threatened species of the coqui frog, a national symbol of Puerto Rico.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, accuses the federal agency of failing to draft a plan that would help the frog species recover its numbers, said Pedro Torres Morales, of the Maunabo Development Committee, which brought the suit along with the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity.
The coqui guajon, or rock coqui (Eleutherodctylus cooki), lives only in caves and rock crevices in the southeastern part of the U.S. Caribbean territory. It is one of 13 coqui species surviving in Puerto Rico; three others are extinct.
Another species of coqui (Eleutherodctylus coqui) is an invasive species in Hawaii that has multiplied rapidly since being accidentally introduced via shipments of plants from Puerto Rico.
At 3 1/2 inches, the rock coqui is larger than the quarter-size coqui that has invaded Hawaii and is being treated as a pest.
Deforestation, industrial development, agricultural pesticides and the use of caves as garbage dumps have decimated much of the rock coqui's natural habitat in Puerto Rico, the environmental groups said, but could not say by how much the frog's numbers had dwindled.
As a threatened species, Torres said the coqui guajon should be protected by a federal plan that designates critical habitats for the frog.
Washington officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not immediately comment on the lawsuit. A local spokeswoman confirmed that the frog in the lawsuit is not the one in Hawaii.
The frogs, named for the high-pitched chirping sound they make, are beloved in Puerto Rico and are commonly depicted on T-shirt and key-chain tourist souvenirs.
Last year, the Puerto Rican government lobbied Hawaii officials to stop a massive eradication effort prompted by residents' complaints over their chirping.
On the Big Island, which has the largest coqui infestation in Hawaii, agriculture and wildlife officials are trying to control the frogs, while on other islands they still have hopes of eradicating them.
