9/30/26 – COMMUNITY COMMITMENT TO COQUI FROG CONTROL ON OʻAHU HITS MILESTONE

COMMUNITY COMMITMENT TO COQUI FROG CONTROL ON OʻAHU HITS MILESTONE

WAIMĀNALO, Hawaiʻi – The Coqui Frog Task Force is marking two years since its September 2024 establishment by reporting the hand-capturing of 3,847 invasive frogs and encouraging additional volunteers to join in its efforts.

The volunteer task force has worked with professionals from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DLNR DOFAW), the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity (DAB) and the Oʻahu Invasive Species Committee (OISC). The group meets for coqui capture nights four times a month on Thursdays, hiking in the dark and listening for the unique call of the coqui frog. When a frog is spotted, it is captured by hand or in a long tube and provided to DAB for recording and analysis.

“The problem is serious, but motivation and morale are high,” said Dave Day, DLNR Deputy and participant in a recent coqui capture night in Waimānalo. “It’s amazing to see how this issue has brought together community and inspired new research.”

Controlling invasive species in Hawaiʻi is often a long process and working with coqui frogs is no exception. In Waimānalo, the persistence of a coqui frog population first detected in 2021 is, thankfully, checked by the persistence of this dedicated group of volunteers and conservation professionals.

Coqui can reach much higher densities in Hawaiʻi than in their native habitat. They produce loud calls and prey on native insect populations. The task force is working to keep the Waimānalo population, which now spans roughly 275 acres, from spreading further until new tools can be developed to reduce or eliminate the infestation.

Representatives from the group recently presented at the Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference, discussing the unique collaboration and its outcomes. The group discussed new research on coqui frog diets and control tools, including attempts to use drones to apply citric acid in areas that are too steep for crews to reach on foot. While the aerial control tool has not yet yielded the desired results, the group soldiers on, capturing the frogs mostly by hand.

“Coqui frogs are just one of many species that require more robust collective research, resourcing and collaborative response actions,” said Kimeona Kane, Waimānalo Neighborhood Board Chair and member of the Coqui Frog Task Force. “It is so critical to include the community in the long-term management, recognizing that no one can do it alone. Mahalo nui to all who are collectively working toward a better future; Hawaiʻi deserves it and it will take all of us to do so.”

Coqui frogs are thought to have first arrived to Maui and Hawaiʻi Island in the late 1980s and early 1990s as hitchhikers on nursery plants and other materials. In the following decades, coqui have been introduced to Oʻahu multiple times. A breeding population in Wahiawā was successfully eradicated by 2007. Current infestations on Oʻahu include Waimānalo, Kuliʻouʻou and Pālolo.

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RESOURCES

(All images/video courtesy: DLNR)

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Media contact:

Andrew Laurence
Communications Director
State of Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources
Phone: 808-587-0396
E-mail: [email protected]

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