May 12, 2006

In Ecuador, a Fight for the Frogs

By MIKE CEASER

Researchers who complain about testy librarians, unreasonable intellectual-property laws, or uncomprehending customs officials might want to meet the frog hunters of the Zoology Museum at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador. They risk bullets, robbery, and tropical diseases as they race against extinction to document and preserve as many amphibian species as possible.

Frequently, villagers see the researchers' lanterns as they search the hills and streams at night and mistake