Update on ... frogs

A summary of recent developments in a topic of interest

In January, the pool frog was one of 33 threatened species to be added to the list of those to be given special protection. Couch's goby and the twaite shad will also enjoy special privileges.

A flying frog was created in April by a team of scientists from Nottingham and the Netherlands. They made a frog float in mid-air by using a magnet to distort the electrons in its atoms. They have also levitated grasshoppers and fish. The frog did not seem to suffer any ill effects.

In June, fried frog appeared on the menus in South Korea alongside sweet and sour frog and frog gruel. It is part of a government-inspired eat- a-frog campaign designed to cut down numbers of the American bull frog, which has been endangering the ecological balance of many lakes in the country by eating the snakes and smaller frogs. Frog meat, according to the South Korean Environment Ministry, is low in fat and calories and high in nutrition. It is a healthy alternative to beef, they say. The American bull frog is 10 times larger than the indigenous variety.