Racing the frogs

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This photo by Lau Ngie Chuong won best amphibian photo taken with a DSLR camera (Canon EOS 7D).

FROG racing? The very first time I heard this, I kept thinking about how people would race frogs.

Would they hold them tight and hope they would hop faster than their opponents towards the finish line?

Luckily this is not the way you take part in a frog race. The race actually involves going as fast as possible to search for frogs, photograph them and be back on time to deliver your results.

Then you keep on hoping that you will win one of the great prizes. The event is organised every year to create public awareness of the fact our frogs might disappear if we do not take care of them.

That is, we need to draw attention to the fact that we need to save the frogs.

Last month was the sixth International Bornean Frog Race held in Sarawak and the third to be held in Kubah National Park. It is always held in connection with ‘Save the frogs day’.

The name Kubah means dome in Malay and the park is just 22km away from Kuching. Established in 1989 as a national park, it covers 2,230ha and has three mountain peaks within its boundaries – the 911-metre Gunung Serapi and the slightly smaller Gunung Selang and Gunung Sendok – all of which are clearly visible from the Kuching Waterfront.

This photo by Nurul Amirah Hassan won best amphibian photo taken with a mobile phone (Samsung Galaxy S3).

The Unimas Ibec team started preparations a year ago at the conclusion of the 2013 Frog Race. I must say they did a very good job since it’s all done by students on a volunteer basis. There were long days and probably long evenings, weeks of preparation before the race and they were still so friendly, smiling and very helpful.

One of the highlights of the event was the launching of the commemorative Malaysian stamps featuring the rare Red Hot Chilli Pepper Frog discovered by Prof Indraneil Das from Unimas and his team at Kubah National Park.

This park has also recorded 61 species of frogs. Everywhere in the world, including Malaysia, new species of frogs are being found. There was also an exhibition on frogs with nice pictures and tadpoles where students gave explanations to the participants.

They partnered with Sarawak Forestry Corporation. The registration started at noon and at 2pm the event opened with talks and a photography workshop. This year they managed to get prize money from sponsors.

The closing ceremony was at midnight after all the prizes were given.

There were 126 participants from 16 different countries (volunteers included) but not all joined the race. Some were cheering on or helping their friends and relatives. Some foreign tourists came after reading about the race in an in-flight magazine, advertisements, Facebook or Twitter.

The youngest participant was seven and the oldest probably near 70 years and he was very enthusiastic, coming all the way from Sibu and asking lots of questions. He had a great time participating in the race. He got the prize for the most enthusiastic participant.

Ministry of Tourism permanent secretary Datu Ik Pahon Joyik (front sixth right) joins a photo call before the flag off for the event. — Photo by Mohammad Zulkifli Tahir

Just before the race, everyone had to dip their shoes in a disinfecting solution to avoid infecting the frogs.

Flag off was at 7pm and everyone was ready to go. They hurried uphill since they had only two hours to find frogs, take pictures of them and get back to submit their best photo.

Not much time to waste if you aim to go to the frog pond since that takes, if you are fast, half an hour uphill.

There were different categories since people could also use their handphones, compact cameras, or DSLR cameras. I must say that we saw a lot of youngsters with good equipment, such as a soft box on their flash.

Volunteers helped from the starting point on the roadside so that no one got into the forest and got lost or hurt since it was pitch dark. At the frog pond, volunteers kept an eye out to be sure that not more than 10 people were on the boardwalk.

When they returned to headquarters, they got a number, a form and a booklet in their goody bags. They had to identify the frogs and then submit their photos to the student volunteers who were uploading photographs onto a laptop.

Then the participants submitted their best pictures to the jury, so judging could begin. They checked to be sure that the frog was not stressed by looking at its pupils – open and not tiny stripes. Some frogs change colour too when stressed.

The photo was not to be overexposed, underexposed and the eyes had to be sharp. The composition was also important. Then out of the best, the very best was chosen.

At 11.30pm we were all waiting for the announcements. First was the prize for the most frogs (13 frog species), then the rarest frog and then best photo in the three different categories. I must say that you can also take a good picture with a handphone.

It was a very nice event, but a long day. For those who did not win, well they can practise the whole year.

As Professor Andrew said: “If you don’t win this year, then come next year with improved techniques and hope you will win.”

For more information go to The Bornean Frog Race page on Facebook, http://theinternationalborneanfrograce.weebly.com, www.savethefrogs.com, or www.sarawakforestry.com.

The Malaysian Nature Society
Established in 1940, the Malaysian Nature Society is the oldest scientific and non-governmental organisation in Malaysia. Our mission is to promote the study, appreciation conservation and protection of Malaysia’s nature heritage. Our 5,000-strong membership, spread across 12 branches nationwide, come from all walks of life, bound by a comment interest in nature. For further information on membership or our activities in Kuching contact us at mnskuchinggmail.com. For information on our activities in Miri contact Musa Musbah ([email protected]). You can also visit www.mns.org.my,
http://[email protected] or www.facebook.com/mnskb.