Perhaps it was looking to make a statement about the carbon footprint of the food industry, or maybe it was hoping to hop up the Eiffel Tower some day. No one will ever know why (or how) the tiny Guadeloupean frog clung to a banana for 6,400 kilometers to land in Europe, but the odd adventure ends well.
It begins with a student in Bordeaux, France who was about to bite into a banana she’d just bought at a local market, when she noticed a tiny semi-translucent creature on the peel. According to FranceInfo, the little-amphibian-that-could measures only 3 centimeters and is believed to be a Barlagne Robber frog, known as eleutherodactylus barlagnei. Commonly found in Guadeloupe, the tree frog has been listed as endangered by the United Nations’ Environment Program (UNEP) since 1991.
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A portrait of the intrepid frog — Photo: Association Vénus
France Info reports the Bordeaux-bound creature’s life was “hanging by a thread.” Yet kind locals went to great lengths to keep the courageous banana-rider alive. First, the startled student called Vénus, a local animal protection society, which didn’t know how to take care of the exotic creature. A veterinarian working for the regional department for protecting local species finally found a specialist who adopted the little grenouille and named it Guaba. It’s a heartfelt story of animal appreciation in a country where frogs found in grocery stores usually end up on someone’s dinner plate.
