Published 14:02 IST, December 12th 2019
Ecuador frog that travelled 5,000 miles found hiding in bananas at Northampton Tesco
A frog belonging to Ecuador has been found hiding in a bunch of bananas at a Tesco in Northampton and incident was immediately informed to the animal inspector.
A frog belonging to Ecuador has been found hiding in a bunch of bananas at a Tesco in Northampton. The staffs at the Clannell Road shop identified the frog amidst the bunch and immediately informed the animal inspectors. The frog is believed to have made the 5,000-mile trip by hopping into a shipping crate as it was being loaded in Equador, as per the RSPCA charity.
The frog which is nicknamed as Juan is in good condition despite his long trip. Greg Hagen, an animal collection officer said that he was not aware where he was going and added that when frog appeared on his lists of jobs he was a bit enthusiazed and surprised.
He also said that the frog had been carefully looked upon by the staff until he reached there. It is still not revealed what kind of frog Juan is and he is taken care of by an expert animal specialist. A Tesco spokesperson said that they sell millions of bananas every week and their workers work hard to clean and inspect all their bananas effectively. He said that it is very rare to find these kinds of unexpected travellers.
FrogPhone
Meanwhile, researchers have come up with a unique device 'FrogPhone' that allows them to keep a tab on frogs in the area and monitor them. The FrogPhone is the world's first solar-powered remote survey device that transmits environmental data to the observation team through text messages. They conduct real-time remote surveys over the phone. These findings are published in the British Ecological Society Journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution today. The device features a new concept that allows researchers to call a frog habitat anytime from anywhere, once the device has been installed.
Device accesses 3G/4G cellular mobile data
The device has been developed at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra and the University of Canberra in partnership with the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Region Frogwatch Program and the Australian National University.
The FrogPhone accesses 3G/4G cellular mobile data services and works on the characteristic wideband audio of mobile phones which acts as a carrier for frog calls. The real-time frog calls can be transmitted via the 3G/4G network service directly to the user's phone. It supports clear sound quality and minimum background noise that allows the users to identify the calls of different frog species.
Updated 14:19 IST, December 12th 2019