What is it?
The poison dart frog is a type of brightly-colored, amphibious animal.
170 different species fall under this category.
Its name is derived from the use native Americans gave the frog.
However, only four species are known to be used for this practice.
It’s considered that most of the other 166 types are either not toxic at all or have
low levels of toxicity.
Since the secretions of these four types of amphibians are incredibly poisonous, hunters
have used them to craft dangerous darts.
The frog’s coloring can vary from black to blue, green, copper, red, and even bright
yellow.
It usually displays elaborate designs and different tones.
This animal is a perfect example of aposematism, the condition in which bright colors are used
to warn predators about dangerous qualities.
Particular creatures have evolved to display colorful skin in order to avoid becoming easy
prey.
The toxic species of poison dart frog, however, are the complete opposite.
Their toxicity is derived from their diets, consisting mainly of ants and termites.
Almost all poison dart frogs are small, measuring between 0.59 and 2.4 inches.
To put things into perspective, that’s between the size of an aspirin and a golf ball.
These species tend to live somewhere between 3 to 15 years in the wild.
4-The poison dart frog doesn’t poison itself Much like the pufferfish, the poison dart
frog is immune to its own poison.
Unlike snakes, which are venomous, not poisonous, this frog carries its toxins on its skin,
The difference is that a venomous creature must bite you to make you sick, while a poisonous
animal makes you sick when you touch or eat it.
In order to avoid being affected by its own toxins, the poison dart frog has evolved a
rather interesting mechanism.
Its nervous system was altered and can actively fight the chemical it produces when feeding.
The poison dart frog’s nerve receptors are misshapen in a specific way.
This keeps the toxin from affecting the frog’s system, as it can’t identify these altered
nerve endings.
The change is subtle enough that other necessary chemicals continue to recognize the receptors
properly.
Where is it located?
Poison dart frogs are found in different tropical and subtropical rainforests, marshes, lakes,
and swamps, in both Central and South America.
To truly thrive, this animal requires a humid environment.
It’s been found in Costa Rica, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Suriname, Peru, Venezuela,
Guyana, and Nicaragua.
Certain species were also artificially introduced in Hawaii.
This animal is also encountered in certain pasturelands, plantations, and savannas.
Though it mostly inhabits solid ground, it's known to live in trees as high as 33 feet
off the ground.
That’s almost as high as a telephone pole.
The female and male don’t require to be together in order to reproduce.
After clusters of eggs are laid, the male fertilizes them.
The female poison dart frog lays its eggs on plants, roots, and other moist locations.
Only after the tadpoles are born does the frog return, taking them on its back to the
water.
The offspring remain there until they mature enough to move on their own and they’re
fed unfertilized eggs by their mother.
Males featuring brighter colors tend to be more territorial and aggressive than those
of a duller complexion.
3-It's being driven to extinction
Several species of poison dart frogs are being put in danger of extinction by unscrupulous
smugglers.
Since these animals are colorful and exotic, there is a massive demand for them on the
black market.
Several cases of people attempting to smuggle this tropical frog have been reported in Bogota.
One such case occurred in the late 1990s when two men were caught by the police carrying
two suspicious bags.
Inside, the officers discovered 800 poison dart frogs, placed inside tiny containers.
The police immediately called Ivan Lozano, from Bogota’s wildlife rescue center, to
handle the rescued amphibians.
Lozano recounts they didn’t have the needed terrariums or food for the frogs and had to
struggle to save as many specimens as possible.
Lozano accidentally touched one of the frogs when it leaped on the floor, and he describes
the pain and swelling as intense.
However, he didn’t suffer any permanent damage.
Not only is trafficking highly dangerous for the people involved, but it causes great harm
to the amphibians.
Collectors pay large sums for certain species, so the poison dart is always in high demand.
Yet only 10% of the transported frogs reach their destination alive.
Researchers have called it a massacre.
How will it kill you?
These amphibians are among the most dangerous animals on Earth.
Not all the poison dart frog species are toxic, but it’s hard to tell the difference in
plain sight.
Touching the skin of such frogs can cause a number of unpleasant symptoms.
Though not all are fatal, it’s usually potent enough to discourage attacks.
Swelling of the affected area is standard and anything from nausea to paralysis may
occur.
The golden poison dart frog or Phyllobates terribilis produces a poison so strong that
it’s capable of killing 10 to 20 fully-grown men, and up to ten thousand mice.
This frog’s skin is coated with an alkaloid-based toxin, considered to be 200 times more potent
than morphine.
It directly affects the victim’s nerves.
Since impulses can’t travel from the brain to the muscles, it can lead to paralysis and
also produce heart failure.
These toxins do not deteriorate, even when moved to a different surface.
Surprisingly enough, when raised in captivity and never allowed to feed on the insects found
in its native habitat, this animal doesn’t develop the ability to produce poison.
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2-Jonathan Wong Kai Kit In November of 2019, a Malaysian man by the
name of Jonathan Wong Kai Kit was discovered attempting to purchase 13 endangered poison
dart frogs.
The businessman wanted to keep the exotic and highly toxic amphibians as pets.
He had paid a Singaporean man called Mitchell Edberg Li Heyi $240 to smuggle the animals
from South America to Singapore.
Li was caught on November the 10th with several poison dart frogs in his car, alongside other
smuggled animals.
He also carried with him a sugar glider and an Argentine tegu.
Wong was fined over $6000, though he only pled guilty to purchasing six specimens without
a permit.
Up to the recording of this video, two other charges against Wong are still pending for
the smuggling of seven other frogs.
The businessman owned a company that sold vivarium containers and had apparently been
purchasing these animals in the past.
Wong claimed not having been aware that the specimens were endangered.
How to survive?
Surviving the poison dart frog depends on what species is encountered.
When it comes to highly toxic species, the only method of survival is not to touch or
eat the specimen.
Since it’s complicated to determine beforehand if the frog in question is lethal or not,
it’s best to avoid grabbing these brightly colored animals whenever possible.
Fortunately, this animal doesn’t actively attack human beings, so merely avoiding it
will keep danger at bay.
Eating this small animal is considered to be far more dangerous than merely touching
it.
Because of this, it’s vital never to ingest a brightly-colored frog unless its precedence
and species are known to be completely safe.
There’s no known antidote for the toxin produced by the poison dart frog.
Wearing gloves and protective gear is fundamental when dealing with this animal.
Small cuts or scrapes might enabe the toxin to act faster in the human body and enhance
its lethal effects.
1-Choco people The Choco people are a native tribe from western
Colombia.
In the past, they frequently used this frog’s poison to coat their darts in order to hunt
or fight.
Collecting the poison was no easy task.
The locals would capture different species of this animal, particularly the golden poison
dart frog.
In order to avoid getting harmed by the toxins, they’d grab the amphibious animal with waxy
leaves.
Then they’d lock them up in hollow canes and keep them in there for days on end.
When they crafted the darts, they would sometimes rub the material on the frog’s skin secretions.
Other times, however, they would stab the frog through the mouth until the tip of the
dart stuck out of its hind legs.
A single poisonous frog could be used by the warriors or hunters to coat 50 different darts,
and the poison remained active for an entire year!
Thanks for watching!
Would you rather pet a poison dart frog or stick your hand in boiling water?
Let us know in the comments section below!