Frogs in Tbilisi, Georgia: the Parsley Frog

The frogs in Tbilisi, Georgia, are predominantly green and brown - rather than multi-coloured. Frogs are in abundance in the National Botanical Garden in Tbilisi, Georgia – specifically in the water lily ponds. Georgia has 11 species of amphibians, most are frogs. Frogs, as opposed to toads, have bulging eyes, no tails, a longer slender body than toads, webbed hind feet, and smooth moist skin.

The frogs I photographed are likely to be the Caucasian Parsley Frog (Pelodytes caucasicus) because they have distinctive green markings on their back. They prefer shady, damp areas with dense vegetation. Some of them might be the brown frogs – Rana macrocnemis or Rana camerani.

Georgia has been exporting live marsh frogs to European countries since 2003, but these are not the agricultural breeding frogs – these are in their natural habitat.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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