The coqui frog has been on Oahu for years. Now, some residents of Kailua are freaking out because a few coquis were heard chirping in their neighborhood. But is this really a coqui crisis, or just hysteria?

The fact is, the coqui is not really a problem. Government agencies have exaggerated the impact of these harmless tree frogs in order to maintain funding for endless control efforts. They have created a crisis so they can get money to deal with that crisis. Negative propaganda comparing the coquis' chirping to a lawnmower, leaf blower or table saw is ridiculous. Actually, a coqui frog sounds like a bird. Large choruses of coquis sound like sleigh bells and can lull you to sleep - provided you don't have a bias against them.

Coqui have not affected property values, according to a study done by the University of Hawaii, and they have had no negative environmental impacts, according to researchers at Utah State University. In fact, the coqui are filling an open niche in Hawaii, consuming many of the invasive insect pests that have been introduced over the years. With so few insect-eating species and so many insects, we are fortunate that we have these tree frogs.

  There is much to like about the coqui, which is the national animal of Puerto Rico because of its valuable service in insect pest control and for its melodious chirping. I manage the Hawaiian Coqui Frog Sanctuary and Nature Preserve on the Big Island. We have enjoyed the presence of coquis for more than eight years now, and have had guests from around the world describe the coquis' nighttime serenade as “;completely enchanting.”; We have fewer mosquitoes and other insect problems because the coquis eat fire ants, termites, roaches, tree borers, fruit flies and other insect pests.

People throughout the world find our Frog War silly and cruel because most governments are trying to save frogs from extinction. In fact, Hawaii is the only place in the world where frogs are considered pests. Elsewhere, frogs are understood to be beneficial to agriculture. As for the “;noise,”; those outside of Hawaii have little sympathy for people who are lucky enough to live in paradise but complain about the chirping of frogs, a sound common to the tropics.

A survey we conducted on the Big Island showed that residents who had feared the coquis coming into their neighborhoods found, once the frogs inevitably did arrive, that the sound is not really disturbing, despite what they had been led to believe. Many people say that after having the coquis for a while, they can't sleep without them! Change is hard for some, but those who can make the adjustment have no problem with coqui frogs.

  The millions of dollars wasted so far in eradication efforts have done nothing but spread the frogs throughout the Big Island. No amount of money can completely exterminate coquis in Hawaii, but the agencies that have wasted all these millions of dollars would be happy to go on spraying acid into our forests, killing plants, geckoes, birds, insects and other non-target species. What a waste of resources! Here is a frog, loved by one culture and hated by another. Clearly, Hawaii does not have a frog problem - it has an attitude problem. In the end, the only reasonable way to deal with these immigrants to our islands is to learn to accept and appreciate them.