A proposal to declare a species of purple frog found in the Idukki district of Kerala as state's official amphibian has been kept in abeyance by the Kerala Wildlife Advisory Board.
Concerns raised by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is the chairman of the board, in declaring a frog spotted only once in a year as state's official frog had forced the board, which met on Jan 19, to keep it in abeyance.
The researchers who spotted the frog a few years back had even suggested the name 'Mahabali' to it, resembling the mythical character King Mahabali who visits the people once in every year during Onam festival.
A member of the board said that the chief minister questioned the logic of declaring a frog which is not seen by the people and appears only once in a year as the state's official frog. Many participants had pointed out that effective conservation steps could be taken once it is declared as the official amphibian of the state. Even then, the matter was kept in abeyance.
Delhi University professor S D Biju discovered the unique amphibian a few years back in the Western Ghat region in Idukki. A researcher at the Kerala Forest Research Institute Sandeep Das had proposed that the amphibian should be declared as the state's official frog.
Scientifically named as 'Nasikabatrachus Sahyadrensis', the purple frog has a bloated body and small head. It has short hind legs and hence could not leap like the commonly-found frogs.