Colombian authorities intercept shipment of poisonous frogs

Colombian authorities seized 216 poisonous frogs found inside a backpack left in a public bathroom at Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport, the municipal government said Wednesday.

The creatures were discovered wrapped in 194 rolls of film hidden among clothing in the backpack.

Police learned that the frogs were brought to Bogota from the southwestern city of Cali with the intent of sending them to Germany for sale.

Personnel from Bogota’s environment department identified 53 of the creatures as harlequin frogs, 50 as Lehmann’s poisonous frogs and 13 others as Kiki frogs.

The Lehmann’s poisonous frog is in danger of extinction and the Kiki frog is listed as a species under threat, while the population of harlequin frogs “has been decreasing significantly,” the department said.

The frogs were transported to a wildlife center, where experts determined that they came from the northern province of Choco, bordering Panama.