Category Archives: Golden Frog Day
Building an Amphibian Ark and Searching for a Cure for the Amphibian Chytrid Fungus
Recorded talk by Dr. Brian Gratwicke, international coordinator of the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project presented as part of the virtual Golden Frog Festival for 2020.
How do you reintroduce frogs back into their natural habitat? (Spanish)
Recorded talk by Dr. Angie Estrada, Director of the Summit Municipal Gardens as part of the virtual Golden Frog Festival for 2020.
Its Aug 14 – Golden Frog Day! A message from Panama’s golden frog
On August 14, Panama celebrates the Golden Frog’s National Day (Law 37 of August 3, 2010) and we want to share a message with you. #Ranaticos
Golden Frog Festival Calendar of Events 2019
This is the Smithsonian calendar of events to celebrate the golden frog festival 2019
Aug 4 12:30pm to 8:30pm Visit the amphibian rescue center in Gamboa
Aug 14 11AM-3:00pm the Q?bus science education team will visit schools in El Valle de Anton
Aug 28 6PM-8PM Rana Dorada via Argentina pub talk.
Aug 27-31 Punta Culebra family-friendly frog-themed games & educational activities.
Golden Frog Festival Calendar of Events 2017
El Valle de Anton
- Sunday August 13 – La Dorada Trail Run 6am-11am Caminando Panama
- Monday August 14 – Free tour of the frog exhibit at Nispero Zoo 1-5pm
- Saturday August 19 – Family Day at Paseo El Valle 11am-5pm
Punta Culebra Nature Center (Amador)
- 16-18 August 1-5pm – Frog exhibition and fun activities for kids
Avenida Nacional
- 10 -11 August – Golden Frog Mural painting by artists
Gamboa
- Saturday August 19 – Open house Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project Gamboa 9am-4pm
AltaPlaza Mall
- Sunday August 27 – 3-7pm – Golden Frog Festivities for the whole family
Frog Conservation Superheroes in Panama
A Golden Day to Fight for Frogs
Golden Frog Day parade (Photo by Brian Gratwicke)
Each year around August 14, the streets of El Valle de Anton in Panama fill up with golden frogs. Though they’re not the real amphibians—the Panamanian golden frog is extinct in the wild—school-age children dress up as the animals in a spirited celebration of what has become a popular national holiday: Panamanian Golden Frog Day.
“Panamanian Golden Frog Day is about being thankful for the gift of life that we are able to experience each and every day,” says Katie Uckele, a volunteer at Punta Culebra Nature Center, one of the participants in the celebrations. “The Panamanian golden frog reminds us to cherish the gift of life and celebrate biodiversity in the world.”
Kids pledge to protect frogs on Golden Frog Day. (Photo by Brian Gratwicke)
In 2010—just one year after the last confirmed observation of a Panamanian golden frog in the wild—Panama’s National Assembly declared August 13 National Golden Frog Day, passing a law that made the Panamanian golden frog one of Panama’s official cultural and ecological symbols. Since then the holiday has grown from the mere acknowledgement of the National Assembly’s declaration to an entire week full of frog-focused events for children and adults across the country.
This year’s Golden Frog Day started August 13, ran through August 20 and included two family days, a race for frogs, an open house at the Gamboa Amphibian Research and Conservation Center, a book fair with a live frog exhibition and a parade in El Valle.
Golden Frog Day came near the end of the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project’s #FightforFrogs campaign, during which time Golden Frog—a global online services provider—matched donations to the rescue project, helping raise money critical to the Zoo’s fight for frogs. The successful digital campaign brought in $21,800 in donations. With Golden Frog’s initial donation of $10,000 and their generous commitment to match up to an additional $20,000, we’ve raised a total of $51,800 for frogs.
Frog jumping competition on Golden Frog Day (Photo by Brian Gratwicke)
“I’m very hopeful for the future of golden frogs and several other highly endangered frogs in Panama,” says Brian Gratwicke, international coordinator for the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project. Gratwicke adds that he will be baking golden frog cupcakes for his co-workers in celebration of Panamanian Golden Frog Day. “We have a fantastic team of dedicated conservationists working at maintaining and breeding frogs, and conducting the research needed to put them back in the wild.”
Though no longer found in the wild, the golden frog is a beloved icon in Panama, where local markets sell thousands of enamel-painted terracotta and hand-carved tagua nut golden frog statues, and hand-stitched fabric works of art called molas with the likeness of the amphibian. Last year Panamanian Golden Frog Day celebrations even kicked off with a golden frog-themed national lottery ticket.
Golden Frog Day float (Photo by Brian Gratwicke)
“Panamanian golden frogs mean hope,” says Angie Estrada, a Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech and a native Panamanian. “Hope that Panamanians can reclaim and protect their rivers, streams and forest. Hope that we can collaborate with people from different countries and backgrounds when the goal is larger than our own interests. Hope that we will be able to find more frogs out in the wild, and that if we don’t we will keep looking. Hope that if they disappeared, we will be able to say that we did everything we could to help them out.”
The Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project is a project partnership between the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, the Houston Zoo, Zoo New England and Smithsonian Institution. You can follow the Fight for Frogs campaign on Twitter using the #FightForFrogs hashtag or on the rescue project’s Facebook page.
The 2014 Golden Frog Festival: Saving a National Treasure
HIGHLIGHTS
Participants: 2000
School Groups: 13 school groups – 300 students
Teacher Workshops: 3 workshops – 70 participants
Volunteers: 80
MEDIA COVERAGE
Radio & TV Spots: 10
News Articles: 7
Media Websites: 3
| Social Media Statistics | |
| Social media views* | |
| STRI Facebook page | 19,717(18 posts) |
| Punta Culebra Facebook page
PARC Facebook page |
4,131(16 posts)
60,898 (41 Posts) |
| Festival event page | 214 likes |
| Twitter hashtag used
Youtube video views |
29
1023(7 videos) |
| *Total # of views for all posts about festival |
Youtube videos released to promote Golden Frog Festival
| Name of Video | # of Views | # of Subscriptions driven | # of shares |
| I love frogs | 92 | 0 | 2 |
| There’s a fungus among us | 28 | 0 | 0 |
| The Golden Frog | 302 | 1 | 1 |
| PARC Project | 38 | 0 | 0 |
| How can you help? | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Frogs in culture | 194 | 1 | 3 |
| Why frogs matter | 359 | 3 | 6 |
| Total | 1023 | 5 | 12 |
In August the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and partners celebrated the fourth annual Golden Frog Festival. The festival, consisting of various events held throughout Panama, calls local and global attention to the ecological and cultural value of the Panamanian golden frog and global amphibian declines. A major highlight of the festival was the opening of Fabulous Frogs of Panama, a new exhibit at Punta Culebra Nature Center featuring some of the world’s most beautiful, and endangered, frog species.
The festival kicked off on August 4 with a series of teacher workshops in El Valle de Anton led by Smithsonian Education Specialist Lidia Valencia and Peace Corps Response Volunteer Hannah Arney. Seventy teachers attended three workshop to learn about the new curriculum “Fabulous Frogs of Panama, which provides educational activities for use in teaching their students about amphibian biodiversity and conservation.
“Congratulations on this workshop that offered us greater knowledge of nature and science. The workshop was practical and easy to apply to any grade level.” ~ workshop participant
PARC scientists Jorge Guerrel and Rigoberto Diaz introduced the festival on the Panamanian national lottery highlighting the importance of the golden frog and encouraging Panamanians to help conserve amphibians.
Later that evening, the first Science in the City public talk was held at the Rana Dorada Pub. The event, held at one of our main sponsor’s venues, featured PARC scientist Jorge Guerrel and indigenous artisian Lanky Cheucarama. The pub talk was a vibrant mix of indigenous culture, conservation, education, and superb food & drinks!
Punta Culebra Nature Center held its soft opening of the new exhibit, “Fabulous Frogs of Panama.” Sharon Ryan, public programs director at STRI, Matthew Larsen, STRI director, and Sylvia Cesaratto, the Canadian Ambassador for Panama, spoke about the importance of amphibians as national, cultural and biological treasures before inviting participants to visit the new exhibit.
The second Science in the City talk was held in the historic district of Casco Antiguo at the American Trade Hotel. Sharon Ryan, STRI’s director of public programs, and Brian Gratwicke, lead conservation biologist for the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, talked about the PARC ‘s amphibian research, rescue and education programs.
La Tribu finalized their performance by inviting a group of local school children to make an oath to live in harmony with the amphibians.
Performance by La Tribu
Throughout the day many people also contributed to a collective mural with the art & design studio La Tienda De Remedios
The weekend was jam-packed with events and activities for families and frog enthusiasts. On Saturday, August 16, El Valle de Anton, the community where the PARC project began, held a family day to promote golden frog conservation. Local businesses and community groups supported the events – which included a performance by acrobatic group La Tribu, and a variety of fund and educational activities. An estimated 500 people, mostly children, attended the event.
On Sunday August 17th, the Punta Culebra Nature Center hosted a frog themed family day to celebrate the launch of their new exhibit. The day’s events included face painting, informational presentations by STRI scientists, and frog themed games. The Rana Dorada food truck also came out to sell their delicious hamburgers and tacos. La Tribu reprised their presentation from El Valle, and taught visitors about the importance of taking care of frogs and their habitat.
The final event of the 2014 Golden Frog Festival was a 5K/15K walk/race held in El Valle de Anton. This was the first trail walk/run race in Panama focused on raising awareness about wildlife conservation. Participants went through trails surrounding the beautiful Hotel Campestre while spectators, families, and children all watched in support.
Golden frog saving a life at the race in El Valle
Special thanks to:
- The Festival Planning Committee (Sharon Ryan, Roberto Ibañez, Jorge Aleman, Nelly Florez, Sonia Tejada, Alvaro Gonzalez, Hannah Arney, Rigoberto Diaz, Lidia Valencia, Adrian Benedetti, Ana Matilde Ruiz, Ana Endara, Sean Mattson, Carlos Celis, Ana Lucrecia Arosemena, Heidi Ross, Dayra Navarro, Lanky Cheucarama, Dara Wilson)
- Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project
- Culebra guides
- All volunteers that contributed to the events
- Brian Gratwicke
- Stratego Communications
Sponsors:
- El Rey
- Caminando Panama
- APRADAP
- The North Face
- Sportshealth
- Suunto
- Purissima
- Organica
- Tacfit Panama
- The TRI Store
- Deka Music Group
Post by Dara Wilson, Media and Outreach Volunteer, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Calling all creative thinkers: Convocation of Frog Art
We invite you to submit your own version of the frog template for the 2014 Golden Frog Festival: Saving a National Treasure. The Golden Frog is Panama’s cultural, biological, and national icon. In celebration of the frog and in the spirit of amphibian rescue and conservation, we want to showcase Panamanian pride and creativity with this convocation of Golden Frog themed art!
MAKE YOUR OWN VERSION OR USE OUR TEMPLATES
Draw, color, sculpt, construct, distort…
The only requirement is that your art reflects the original image of the golden frog template in some way. Whatever you imagine will work!
Make it and share it
Click to download amphibian coloring sheet 1
Click to download amphibian coloring sheet 2
Click to download amphibian coloring sheet 3
Save the file as a high-resolution PDF or JPG image. There is no limit to the number of pieces you can submit.
When your work is complete tweet us your photo at:
#ranaticos
All of the finished pieces will be shown on the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s facebook page
WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR SUBMISSIONS!