You could come home with me and live in Hackney! Would you like that?
I've met a lot of frogs in my time: fat frogs, friendly frogs, flying frogs, hungry frogs ...
even giant, waxy monkey frogs.
But there's one frog that stands out above all others
because it just so happens to be the most toxic animal on the planet.
Phyllobates terribilis, otherwise known as the golden poison dart frog.
This tiny amphibian secretes enough poison from its skin
to kill over 10 people in three minutes flat.
It's only found in small and remote area
of tropical rainforest in the Chocó region of Colombia.
Steamy!
This unique freak is on the red list for endangered species.
I'm desperate to find one and discover what's being done to save it.
Are you going to take it for me?
Really? Thank you very much. Such service.
It's about 90, 95 ... 30 degrees celsius and probably about 100% humidity.
So I'm going to be looking really terrific for the next four days, basically.
Really, really sexy.
Timbiquí is the only town in the region.
There are no roads in and no roads out.
It's steamy, hot, and one of the wettest places on Earth.
When it rains, boy, does it rain.
The military are everywhere because just a few miles upstream
there are drug runners, illegal gold miners, and the last stronghold
of the militant guerrilla group Farc.
It was easy enough getting in to Timbiquí,
but if you want to head any further upstream, on your own head be it.
I've made myself responsible for my own risk now.
The risks of leaving this town.
As soon as we head upriver we're entering Colombia's wild west,
but that's where the frog is so that's where we've got to go.
It's a lovely day out. There's nothing to worry about.
These are the marines on the right. These are marines here.
Oh, OK.
As soon as we've left the vicinity of Timbiquí, we're pulled aside and offered some useful advice.
So upstream, we might find people
who have got machine guns and are asking for passports and to check us
and who aren't the army, who are 'independent' military types.
It's not just the frogs that are in danger here. Local communities live in a constant state of flux
as the military and the Farc fight for control of this illicit El Dorado,
the source of much of Colombia's cocaine
and now a hub for industrial scale illegal gold mining.
Hello, San Miguel! Hola! Hola! Hola, Señor!
– No way! – Yeah it's clear, yeah.
And that's because of the gold mining upriver that makes it this colour?
– The machinery upriver. Goldmining.
So all of this area around here is all prime jungle for the golden poison dart frog.
And these people who live in San Miguel, they own about 60,000 hectares of community land.
So today's mission is for Alonso and Paul
to persuade them to give up a significant chunk
of that land over to conservation. Wish us luck!
I've come here thousands of miles
because Colombia has the most spectacular frogs on the planet.
And probably the most spectacular of all is this little yellow frog called Phyllobates terribilis
that I very, very much want to see.
Convincing the people of San Miguel to protect a creature
that can kill them almost instantly is a hard sell,
but the response is encouraging.
This seems like the perfect time
to bring out my alter ego, the Amphibian Avenger,
a character that back home is usually very popular with the kids.
Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit!
Croak, croak! Ribbit, ribbit!
I think I'm going to make them cry!
In an area where frogs are deadly,
dressing up as a giant one is perhaps not my brightest idea.
I've actually frightened them. I think it's actually anti-conservation.
I'm feeling really, really embarrassed, actually. Really.
It's coming to places like this that makes you think that
maybe conservation is a western luxury, because here's me, passionate about saving a frog
but these people have got to have something to eat tonight.
And it's all very easy for me to come in and go,
'Oh, I love this frog. I want to save this frog that's in your back yard,
which means you can't do this, that and the other.'
But, you know, it's just not that simple. It's not that simple.
People have got to feed themselves.
And that is the reality of the situation.
Happily, the people who are on the frontline trying to preserve this environment
are a group of local conservationists who understand these challenges all too well.
– There's a frog! He's got a frog!
– They're also very, very good at catching frogs.
– It's a common forest frog ... – Oh! I've lost it!
You know what that is? That's a sleeping tree frog.
They normally live really high up in the trees.
Look how beautiful he is! Look! His eyes are like pearls.
Isn't he gorgeous? Look at his eyes!
Look at you! You're literally like the frog conjuror!
Wow, so this is ... Look! He's like a little tomato, isn't he?
So this a little toad just hopping around on the forest floor.
He's getting quite annoyed with me. He's got a fantastic, pissed-off look on his face.
– So how endangered is this frog? – I would say extremely endangered.
And the reason is simple.
Firstly, it's only found in a very small area effectively the size of London or Washington DC,
which is about 40 miles by 40 miles.
So it's in a tiny area.
Secondly, none of that area is actually protected
until ProAves has acquired some land and set up a reserve specifically
to save and protect the species.
– Terriblis?
He's so much more orange than I thought. Oh my god!
My god, I can't believe we saw it! He's, like, really orange.
The one's that I've seen are more, like, yellow. This one's orange.
He's got it!
As soon as the frog senses danger,
it sweats out the deadly neurotoxin to defend itself.
Oh! Score! Goal!
By the time Alonso hands the frog to me,
I need gloves to prevent even the tiniest amount of the toxin
seeping into my bloodstream through my skin, or I'd be dead in minutes.
Bloody hell! I'm so nervous! OK, OK. Hello mister ...
Oh my god, I've got it! I've got it!
– Yeah, it's all yours.
– I can hear him chirping, actually. Oh my god, he's definitely going to be
making the poison now, isn't he?
I can't believe I'm holding in my hand the world's most toxic creature.
I'm literally shaking!
Hello, mister! Don't be mad.
God, he's so beautiful! I can't ...
I think I'm going to cry!
Sorry.
– Don't touch your face with it. – Oh, don't touch my face with that hand!
Oh my god! It's so embarrassing!
– I'll give you a tissue.
Maybe it's the toxins doing something to me.
– Although it may be deadly, protecting the golden frog
will benefit the local people far more than gold mining in the long term.
Despite the mad woman in a frog costume, since my visit the people of San Miguel
are now working to save their local environment.
I literally feel like I'm holding a loaded gun.
It's terrifying! I have never ...
I've held a million frogs and I have never shaken so much as I am right now.
I am just shitting myself!
– He said that if you kiss him, he'll become a prince.
Do you know what? I am so not kissing this frog.
There is no fucking way I'm kissing that.
But I am going to give Alonso a big kiss ... Thank you.
I'm not kissing him, no.