WORLD ECONOMY LOSES $16 BILLION TO INVASIVE FROGS AND SNAKES

Sun 31 July 2022:

A study published on Thursday suggests that, two invasive species—the American bullfrog and the brown tree snake—cost the world an estimated $16 billion between 1986 and 2020 by causing issues like crop damage and power outages.

According to research reported in Scientific Reports, the brown-and-green lithobates catesbeianus frog, which can weigh over 0.9 kilograms, had the biggest impact in Europe.

According to researcher Ismael Soto, the brown tree snake, or boiga irregularis, has multiplied out of control on Pacific islands like Guam and the Mariana Islands, where US troops introduced the species during World War II.

The snakes have at times been so abundant that they caused power outages by crawling on electrical equipment, he said.

This signals the need for investment controlling global transport of invasive species to avoid paying for mitigation after the invasions occur, said Soto, a PhD student at the University of South Bohemia in the Czech Republic, the study’s lead researcher.

“Nowadays, the pet trade is the main pathway for these species, especially now that everyone wants to get the most exotic snake,” Soto told Reuters. “We propose continuously updating the black list of forbidden species for trade.”

The figures, which mostly came from estimates and extrapolations rather than empirical observations, were obtained by aggregating the costs associated with invasive species as described in peer-reviewed literature or studies deemed to have high reliability.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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